ISIS group ‘defeated’ in Afghan key province of Nangarhar: minister

ISIS terrorist group’s Afghan branch has been “defeated” in one of the key eastern provinces where it first sought to establish a stronghold, a top Afghan security official said Sunday.

ISIS terrorist group’s Afghan branch has been “defeated” in one of the key eastern provinces where it first sought to establish a stronghold, a top Afghan security official said Sunday.

The claim comes after the jihadists first burst into Afghanistan’s conflict in 2015, when they overran large parts of Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, near the Pakistan border.

In the years since, they have claimed responsibility for a string of horrific bombings across Afghanistan, including at a wedding hall in Kabul, and have been continually attacked by US, Afghan and even Taliban forces.

ISIS “were defeated in Nangarhar, their centers were destroyed”, acting interior minister Massoud Andarabi told reporters in Jalalabad, the Nangarhar provincial capital, amid ongoing operations against the jihadists. 

“We will soon destroy their last centers. With the people’s help, we will completely eliminate them. Some of their smaller groups are surrendering, other small groups will be eliminated in other provinces.”

He went on to say that ISIS were being “completely defeated” in Afghanistan.

Attaullah Khogyani, the spokesman for Nangarhar’s governor, said 32 IS fighters surrendered to government forces on Saturday.