A top security official in Afghanistan claims the Daesh terror group has been “defeated” in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar.
Acting Interior Minister of Afghanistan Massoud Andarabi reportedly told reporters in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, on Sunday (November 10) that militants of Islamic State (IS) or Daesh terror group “were defeated and their centers were destroyed” in the troubled province.
According to Afghan media reports, Andarabi remarked this at a ceremony to introduce Emal Niazi as new police chief in eastern Nangarhar province, where Daesh first appeared in 2014 and established a stronghold.
Andarabi said that small Daesh cells were surrendering to Afghan forces and those shifting to other provinces would be dismantled in operations.
He said that by preventing Daesh to gain foothold in Nangarhar, residents proved that they would not allow any foreign network in their province.
He also pledged Afghan forces will prevent targeted killings in the province and dismantle crime rings.
Afghan affiliate of Daesh announced its formation in January 2015 and has carried out some deadly attacks on civilian and military targets.
Officials say that the group has grown weaker recently as its numerous members have been killed in clashes or had surrendered.
Meanwhile, the comments by Andarabi seemed to be in contrast with those of the chief of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, who told a regional security forum in Tashkent on November 7 that Daesh was setting up a base in Afghanistan to target former Soviet states using militants from Central Asia. According to him, IS militants are preparing expansion into CIS. This expansion will be carried out by the IS militants from among nation of the Central Asian republics, Bortnikov said.
