Afghan Taliban kill 8 in raids of IS hideouts in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD — (AP) — Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban killed eight Islamic State militants and arrested 9 others in a sequence of raids concentrating on key figures in a spate of assaults in Kabul, a senior Taliban authorities spokesman mentioned Thursday.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban authorities, mentioned the raids within the capital metropolis and western Nimroz province on Wednesday focused IS militants who organized current assaults on Kabul’s Longan Resort, Pakistan’s embassy and the navy airport.

Eight IS fighters, together with international nationals, had been killed and 7 others arrested in Kabul, whereas a separate operation in western Nimroz province resulted in two extra IS arrests, Mujahid mentioned.

“These members had a foremost position within the assault on the Chinese language resort and paved the best way for international IS members to come back to Afghanistan,” Mujahid mentioned in a tweet.

The Islamic State group claimed duty for a lethal bombing close to a checkpoint on the Afghan capital’s navy airport Sunday. IS mentioned that assault was carried out by the identical militant who took half within the Longan Resort assault in mid-December.

The regional affiliate of the Islamic State group — often called the Islamic State in Khorasan Province and a key rival of the Taliban — has elevated its assaults in Afghanistan for the reason that Taliban takeover in 2021. Targets have included Taliban patrols and members of Afghanistan’s Shiite minority.

IS revealed a photograph of the attacker, figuring out him as Abdul Jabbar, saying he withdrew safely from the assault on the resort after he ran out of ammunition. It added he detonated his explosives-laden vest concentrating on the troopers gathered on the checkpoint.

Mujahid mentioned mild weapons, hand grenades, mines, vests and explosives had been confiscated by the Taliban’s safety forces in the course of the raids on an IS hideout within the Shahdai Salehin neighborhood. Native residents reported sounds of a number of explosions and an hourslong gun battle.

The Taliban swept throughout the nation in August 2021, seizing energy as U.S. and NATO forces had been within the final weeks of their closing withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of warfare.

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