Conflicts & War

Taliban arrested 250 IS members in last one month

Kabul, Oct 21 (EFE).- Taliban have arrested at least 250 alleged Islamic State (IS) fighters in the last one month as a part of an ongoing operation that began few weeks ago to destroy their hideouts in the country.

“Some 250 members of Daesh – another name for the IS – have been arrested in the past one month,” Taliban Interior Ministry spokesperson Qari Saeed Khosty told EFE.

Most of these arrested IS members were prisoners that were released following the Taliban’s takeover of the country in August from different jails in the country, where they were held by the Afghan security forces for years, according to Taliban officials consulted by EFE.

Earlier this month, the Taliban secretly launched a large scale operation against IS presence in the country, which is still underway in several parts of the country, according to a Taliban official who asked not to be named.

“Tens of Daesh members so far killed in this operation in various parts of the country,” the official said.

IS fighters have so far carried out attacks in at least eight of the 34 Afghan provinces across the country, including the capital Kabul, since the Taliban seized power on Aug.15.

Some of the deadliest attacks by the IS in the last two months have resulted in some 170 dead in the capital Kabul, 80 deaths in northern Kunduz province and another 60 fatalities in southern Kandahar province.

Although the Taliban has downplayed the threat of IS in Afghanistan, analysts and military experts have warned that it is emerging as a potential security threat against the newly established Taliban government. EFE

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