Commando operations against Islamic State continue

KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghan National Army (ANA) commandos, advised by US Special Forces, continue offensive operations against Islamic State militants in eastern Nangarhar province.

Commandos from the first and second and eighth Special Operations and 8th Special Operations Kandaks have been fighting against the Daesh rebels since late May in Deh Bala district.

A statement from the US military said on Friday Afghan and US forces met local villagers to discuss the ISIS-K presence in in Deh Bala. A village elder spoke of the group’s atrocities, forcing villagers to flee homes.

“We were forced out of our homes and compelled to flee to other areas,” said one tribal elder from the district. “They are like a cancer in the area.”

In the past six months, ISIS-K has twice been uprooted from its declared caliphates in Kot and Achin districts by Afghan Special Security Forces.

At the request of local elders, Afghan commandos launched airstrikes to end ISIS-K control of villages in northern Deh Bala, the US military added.

“The villagers support the commandos and are eager to return to their homes,” said a US Special Forces advisor.

The largest contingent of Afghan commandos ever assembled for a joint special operations mission is leading the fight to remove ISIS-K from Nangarhar.

With day and nighttime operations having driven ISIS-K from villages in northern Deh Bala, commandos continue the push to reclaim villages for their fellow Afghans.

Commandos had killed almost 160 ISIS-K to date and have destroyed cave entrances, tunnels and structures, reducing ISIS-K safe havens, the statement concluded.

pr/mud