61 individuals held hostage by Daesh in Pachiragam

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): Sixty-one people, including elders and youth, were still in Islamic State (IS) captivity in the Pachiragam district of eastern Nangarhar province, an official claimed on Tuesday.

The district chief, in an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, said the local residents were taken hostage on the first day of Daesh attacks on the town.

A day earlier, the Nangarhar governor’s house said 19 civilians had been rescued from Daesh captivity as a result of a security operation in the restive district.

The district’s administrative head, Mirbaz Khan Intizar, said Koz Pachir, Pas Pachir, Kandakhel and Ghondakhel areas had been cleared of rebels.The operation is currently underway in Tokelkhel area.

He added: “The 19 civilians rescued yesterday were not in Daesh captivity, but they were caught in clashes in Tokelkhel. They were rescued when Afghan forces reached the area.”

He said the corpses of some civilians killed by IS fighters were still lying in Haroon Baba area, which was under Daesh control.

Izat Khan, an uprising group commander in Pachiragam, alleged Afghan forces were not advancing on Daesh operations. The security posts had been set up in areas controlled by the uprising force, he said.

The Afghan forces had wrested back only one village in the past 11 days, he added, suggesting the anti-Daesh offensive had been slow.

A local tribal elder, Mohammad Mir, also called for stepping up the war on the militants. The ongoing operation would be unproductive without the participation of commandoes, he believed.

But Maj. Sherin Aqa Faqiri, spokesman for the 201^st Selab Military Corps in the east, insisted the operation in Pachiragam -- codenamed Shahin 20 -- was a success.

“It is a policy of the government to be careful in operations so as to prevent civilian casualties,” he argued.

About two weeks ago, Daesh militants launched coordinated attacks on Pachiragam district and the fighting is still raging.

mds/mud