Dozens of civilians and militia forces were killed in the Afghan northern province of Sar-e Pul in what officials on Sunday described as an attack by Taliban fighters teamed up with a commander claiming allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) terror group, according to world media reports.
If true, the open cooperation between the militant groups, which have sometimes fought turf battles in the past, could be further trouble for the struggling Afghan government, The New York Times notes.
Up to 50 people, including women and children, were killed after the militants seized control of the Mirza Walang area in the Sayad district on August 5 following two days of intense gunbattles with security forces, Afghan officials said.
Mirza Walang is in a remote part of the country where both Taliban and IS fighters have a presence.
“According to our credible information, 50 people have been killed," Sharif Aminyar, the district governor of Sayad, said on August 6.
Aminyar added that 18 of the people killed had been members of the Afghan local police and other local government-backed militias, while the rest were civilians.
Mohammad Noor Rahmani, head of the provincial council, said at least 25 civilians were also missing.
Aminyar said that "it was a joint Taliban and Daesh operation," using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
"The Taliban were led by Mullah Nader and Daesh was led by Sher Mohammed Ghazanfar," said Mr. Aminyar. “Despite several demands for air support and the special forces, the demands were ignored by central government. They told us the air force was busy in other provinces.”
Meanwhile, Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, denied any cooperation with the Islamic State on the operation and said local residents had misunderstood. “Ghazanfar is not Daesh — he is our commander in Sar-e Pul, a very active commander, and he is under our command, our flag,” he said. “He has allegiance with us.”
The Taliban spokesman denied allegations of civilian casualties, and said only militiamen had been killed.
In the past, the Taliban and IS militants have fought battles against each other. A combining of their forces, if confirmed, would present a worrying development for the U.S.-backed Afghan government.
