IS militants planning attacks in other Nangarhar towns

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): Islamic State or Daesh fighters fleeing an ongoing operation in the Achin district of eastern Nangarhar province are planning to carry out hit-and-run attacks in other districts, an official said on Monday.

The Daesh militants launched their first major attack two weeks ago on security posts in Abdul Khel area of Achin district and still they sometimes engage security forces.

Led by Nangarhar police chief Brig. Gen. Fazl Ahmad Sherzad, Afghan security forces have launched a search operation in the district against the Daesh militants.

Haji Ghalib Mujahid, the Achin district chief, told Pajhwok Afghan News the Daesh fighters were currently in a defensive mode and they periodically resorted to gunfire at security forces.

Mujahid said the Islamic State fighters, who included some foreigners, had moved into Kot, Nazian and Dur Baba districts from Mamond and Abdul Khel areas as a result of the operation against them.

“They (IS militants) want to carry out hit-and-run attacks in districts they have fled to and their aim is to divert the attention of security forces elsewhere, but we are aware and we have enough forces in all the areas.”

The district chief said Daesh militants still existed in Abdul Khel and other areas, but security posts had been established in these areas to subdue their activities.

The official said he had started recruiting local police personnel and so far 50 personnel had been recruited to take part in security maintenance.

He acknowledged some more families had been displaced as a result of the clashes in the district.

The recent unrest in the Shinwari zone, encompassing three districts, has displaced about 12,000 families and officials say they are being assisted.

Earlier Nangarhar governor Salim Khan Kunduzi had told Pajhwok Afghan News that so far 5000 displaces families have been provided with essential relief goods and a survey to assist the remaining families was underway.

Meanwhile, Nangarhar police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal told Pajhwok Afghan News the operation by Afghan security forces in the Achin district was in progress.

He said seven Daesh fighters were killed and eight others wounded during latest clashes that took place a day earlier in the Achin district.

He said security forces had been deployed in the district and the Daesh fighters had no ability to carry out coordinated attacks.

Mashriqiwal also confirmed the IS militants had sneaked into other districts and were planning attacks.

“There are other border districts near Achin where they can easily make movement. They can cross into other districts and carry out attacks, but our forces have the ability to fight them.”

A member of the provincial council, Zabihullah Zamarai, said government forces had launched their search operation in Achin district and hoped the offensive would yield positive results.

“We hope security posts will be increased in the area after the operation to bolster the security environment because residents are fed up with Daesh atrocities. We expect the masses they will cooperate with the government.”

The public representative said the displaced families had not been assisted according to their needs and they had not moved to a single area.

In this regard, he said, they had held meetings with the provincial administration and had called for better organised assistance with the displaced families.

The Islamic State group has so far said nothing about the operation in the Achin district.

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