Clashes between Taliban and ISIS in Afghanistan kill dozens of militants

Asia-Pacific, News May 26, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

More than two dozen militants have been killed in fierce clashes between the Taliban and the ISIS terrorist group in the troubled western Afghanistan.

Afghan military sources said on Monday that the deadly clashes broke out after the ISIS militants attacked local Taliban elements in Khaki Safed district of Farah Province on Sunday evening.

General Asadullah Kohistani, Farah Province’s Afghan National Army commander, confirmed that 27 militants were killed during the fierce infighting. He added that the battle also left 20 injured on both sides.

“Based on our intelligence reports, at least 12 Taliban militants were also killed and seven others were wounded in the clash, which began on Sunday evening,” media outlets quoted Kohistani as saying

The army official also added that the ISIS suffered at least 15 fatalities and 13 wounded.

The Taliban militants reportedly seized at least 12 ISIS militants, including four Uzbek women, during the fighting.

The latest fighting started after ISIS, which controls swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, sought to recruit young men in areas traditionally seen as Taliban strongholds. They also demanded that the Taliban pledge allegiance to the ISIS leader Ibrahim al-Samarrai aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

On Saturday, a high-ranking commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan said that the ISIS terror group is actively recruiting militants in the war-torn country. General John F. Campbell, the commander of the NATO Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, said that ISIS is making use of a sophisticated social media campaign in order to woo local Taliban militants.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has recently warned that ISIS is worse than al-Qaeda for Afghanistan.

Taliban militants at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has been witnessing a massive influx of foreign militants from a host of countries, including Pakistan and Tajikistan as well as Chechnya in North Caucasus.

Afghanistan faces a security challenge years after the United States and its allies invaded the country in 2001 as part of US war on terror. The offensive removed Taliban from power, but many areas in the country are still witnessing violence.

At least 13,500 foreign forces remain in Afghanistan despite the end of the US-led combat mission, which came on December 31, 2014. The forces, mainly from the US, are there for what a support mission. US-led NATO says the forces will focus mainly on counter terrorism operations and training Afghan soldiers and policemen.

JR/KA/HMV