Conflicts & War

At least six suspected IS members killed in Taliban operation

Kabul, Apr 4 (EFE).- At least six suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) terror group were killed in an operation by the Taliban security forces in northern Afghanistan, the police said Tuesday.

The operation took place around midnight in the Nahr Shahi district of the northern Balkh province and lasted for some three and a half hours resulting in the death of six IS members, Balkh police spokesperson Mohammad Asif Waziri told the media on Tuesday.

The Taliban have stepped up their offensives against the terror group in recent weeks in Balkh, especially after the death of its governor and three other people in a suicide attack on Mar. 9.

On Mar. 27, the security forces killed at least three key members of Daesh, or the IS, the General Directorate of Intelligence (DGI) announced.

According to the DGI, those killed included Zainuddin, Daesh’s temporary head of Balkh and head of the judicial system and the second most popular person in ISIS-Khorasan; Abu Omar Afridi, a member of Daesh Khorasan council; and Ustad Salman Tajikistani, who was in charge of military training and organizing mines.

Despite an increase in offensives against the Afghan branch of IS, the Taliban insist that the terror group has been controlled and barely poses a problem, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid recently reiterated during an interview with a local radio channel.

Since the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan a year-and-a-half ago, dozens of suspected IS members have been killed in operations conducted by the fundamentalists in an attempt to make good on the security guarantees that they boasted of before taking power.

However, the terror group continues to claim responsibility for most of the attacks that have occurred in the country in recent months.

The Taliban maintain a strong rivalry with the local branch of the IS, which has emerged as the main security threat in Afghanistan after the Islamist regime seized control of the country in August 2021. EFE

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