Airstrikes in Afghanistan Kill 29 Militants Affiliated With ISIS, Official Says
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Version 0 of 1. KABUL, Afghanistan — Airstrikes against the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan have killed dozens of militants and knocked out their clandestine radio station, an official said Tuesday. The official, Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar Province, said four airstrikes on Monday evening in the Achin district killed 29 militants affiliated with the Islamic State in the eastern province, which borders Pakistan. The strikes also demolished a radio station known as the Voice of the Caliphate that had been broadcasting propaganda on behalf of the group, he said. In Kabul, Dawlat Waziri, a Defense Ministry spokesman, told Tolo News that the Afghan Air Force had carried out the airstrikes. Col. Michael T. Lawhorn, a spokesman for American forces in Afghanistan, said that the United States military had also carried out “a counterterrorism strike in that district,” but could not confirm that it was in any way related to the radio station. The local affiliate is composed mainly of disgruntled former Afghan and Pakistani Taliban members and is only loosely related to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS or ISIL. While Afghan and American intelligence officials are watching it closely, it remains a fringe threat for now, and is fighting the Taliban for its survival. President Obama in December signed an order broadening the rules of engagement of American forces in Afghanistan, allowing them to attack Islamic State targets. |