581 IS militants from 14 countries in custody: NDS

KABUL (Pajhwok): Over 580 Daesh militants from 14 countries have been arrested by the National Directorate of Security (NDS) in five provinces of the country, the spymaster said on Tuesday.

Spymaster Ahmad Zia Seraj said that 173 children were among those arrested. He said the detainee were militarily trained and had participated in anti-state militant activities.

He said these militants have been arrested from Kabul, Faryab, Jawzjan, Nangarhar and Kunar provinces.

Seraj said the detained Daesh insurgents hailed from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, China, Iran, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, Algeria, India and Maldives.

“The Afghan government has launched talks with these countries to resolve the problem permanently. Currently Daesh has no central area from where they administer their militant activities.”

Referring to Aslam Farooqi and some other Daesh leaders in the Afghan government custody, he said Farooqi is not amongst the 581 inmates.

He said Farooqi will be extradited to Pakistan on the basis of an agreement under which the Taliban leadership inmates in Pakistani jails had to be extradited to Afghan government.

Farooqi, a notorious Daesh member and Pakistani, was arrested by security forces last year. Pakistani government often demands Farooqi extradition

Seraj said that an additional 300 more Daesh militants were under security forces custody, but he did not provide details.

Nh/ma