Afghanistan: The Taliban say they eliminated an IS hideout in Kabul

Five people were killed in a nighttime operation by the Taliban against what they described as a hideout of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in the northern part of the Afghan capital, Kabul, the fundamentalist regime said on Sunday.

Residents in Khairkhana, a neighborhood mainly inhabited by minority Tajiks, reported explosions and heavy gunfire for hours overnight Saturday into Sunday.

In a statement, the Taliban’s intelligence service said that a special operation was carried out in a “Khawarij” hideout in a house.

The regime generally uses this term when referring to alleged followers or members of IS.

Although the Islamic State is also a Sunni extremist organization, its relationship with the Taliban, who regained power in Afghanistan in August 2021, is characterized by mutual hatred.

The Taliban intelligence agency said the five people who died were involved in small bombings and were planning a new, larger attack.

Although the regime claims to have crushed the jihadist group and captured or killed dozens of its members, analysts point out that IS still poses Afghanistan’s most significant security challenge.

Although the number of attacks has decreased in the country in the last year, they remain frequent and sometimes have a particularly heavy toll of victims. Several occurred in August, while a series of mainly bombings hit Afghanistan at the end of May, with dozens of deaths, as well as in April, the holy month of Ramadan. IS took responsibility for most of them, which above all targets members of Shiite minorities (Sufis, Sikhs…) and the Taliban.

At least 53 people, mostly schoolgirls and minors, were killed and more than 100 injured in the September 30 attack on an educational facility in a district of the capital Kabul where Shiites and members of the Hazara minority live.

RES-EMP

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