JALALABAD (Pajhwok): Islamic State or Daesh militant group has captured the Tora Bora strategic area in Pachirawgam district of eastern Nangarhar province after fierce clashes with Talban rivals, sources claimed on Wednesday.
On the other hand, local officials in the nearby Khogyani district also said the Daesh gunmen had entered Wazir Tangi area, prompting hundreds of families to flee homes.
A security official in Nangarhar told Pajhwok Afghan News the Daesh fighters reached Tora Bora last night after clashes with local residents and Taliban insurgents.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said both the sides — Daesh and Taliban — had suffered heavy casualties in their clashes, but the Taliban were forced into fleeing.
After capturing Tora Bora, the official said, the Daesh gunmen had started movements near the district centre of Pachirawgam district and had entered clashes with security forces.
A group leader of Afghan Local Police (ALP) personnel, Sharifullah in Pachirawgam district, told Pajhwok Afghan News that thousands of families had fled homes in Tora Bora.
A tribal elder, Malak Toor, said Daesh affiliates had captured all villages in Sulimankhel Tangi area besides Tora Bora.
He said local militiamen and government forces had also retreated, enabling Daesh gunmen to capture Sulimankhel area.
Nangarhar governor’s spokesman, Attaullah Khogyani, said the situation in Pachirawgam was of concern but did not go into details.
Experts say the fall of Tora Bora to Daesh militants will not only provide shelter to the group but another chance to the US to test its bombs.
One of them, Ahmad Sultan, said: “Tora Bora is a strategic area on the border between Pachirawgam and Khogyani districts. The area has a strategic importance for hideouts of insurgents due to thick forests and caves.”
He said Daesh would probably use Tora Bora as their headquarters and would threaten Nangahar and other areas.
Khogyani district chief Haji Zalmai said Daesh militants had sneaked into Khogyani district from Chaparhar and Pachirawgam and currently they showed presence in a few villages of Wazir Tangi area.
He said dozens of families from Ahmad Khel and Pirkhel tribes displaced as a result of the situation had reached areas near the district centre.
He said they were in contact with the provincial government on how to secure the lives of the displaced families.
Once used against the Soviets during the Afghan Jihad, Tora Bora served as a hideout for Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden during the last days of the Taliban regime.
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