ZARANJ, Afghanistan (AP/Xinhua) – Afghan security forces stormed a hideout of Daesh terrorist group in Afghanistan’s western Nimroz province on Sunday, killing two militants and arresting another, provincial director for Information and Culture Mufti Habibullah Elham said.
“Units of Special Forces stormed a hideout of Khawarej (a reference to IS group) in Sayedabad area of Police District 3 in Zaranj city today morning killing two insurgents and arresting another,” Elham confirmed in talks with Xinhua.
No security personnel and civilians have been harmed during the operations, the official contended.
The security forces also discovered and seized a good quantity of arms and ammunition during the operations that lasted for a while, the official further said.
This is the fourth operation launched by Afghan forces against Daesh hideouts over the past week.
Earlier, security forces raided Daeshhideouts in the northern Mazar-i-Sharif, eastern Charikar and the western Herat cities, killing several Daesh-affiliated terrorists, according to officials.
The regional affiliate of the Daesh group — known as the Daesh in Khorasan Province — has been the key rival of the ruling Taliban since the religious group’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.
The Afghan caretaker government, which has downplayed the rival Daesh outfit as a serious threat, has vowed to smash the armed opponents in the war-torn Asian country.
Daesh has increased its attacks in Afghanistan, targeting both Taliban patrols and members of Afghanistan’s Shia minority.
Deputy Afghan government spokesman Bilal Karimi said authorities were serious about Afghanistan’s boundaries and sovereignty.
“The Daesh has no place in the country or among the people, nor does the Islamic emirate allow it,” he told The Associated Press. “The number of (Daesh) fighters killed or arrested so far is in the hundreds, but there is no exact number.”
The Daesh terrorist group has claimed responsibility for a number of high-profile attacks in Afghanistan. It said one of its members was behind a deadly bombing near a checkpoint in January at Kabul’s military airport, the same man who took part in an assault on a hotel in the capital last December, and a gun attack on the Pakistani embassy.