Taliban, Daesh explosions masterminds killed

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): Intelligence operatives killed a number of key Taliban and Daesh members, including masterminds of bomb attacks, during operations in eastern provinces of Laghman and Nangarhar, officials said on Wednesday.

Ziaulhaq Amarkhil, the Nangarhar governor, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the National Directorate of Security (NDS) special task force last night conducted operations in Daman and Familo areas of eighth and sixth police districts of Jalalabad city.

During these operations, he said, Daesh recruiters for Kabul and Nangarhar were captured and the group’s mastermind behind bomb blasts in urban areas was killed.

“Local residents and NDS special task force suffered no casualties during the operations,” the governor said.

In another NDS operation, a Haqqani network member Hasibullah was captured in the limits of seventh police district of Jalalabad. The detainee planned to assassinate civilians with a silenced gun and affix magnetic bombs to vehicles, the governor said.

Meanwhile, the Nangarhar governor’s house in a statement said five Taliban militants were killed after they attacked a security check-post in Hesarak district on Tuesday.

The statement said three Taliban rebels were killed in a joint Afghan security forces airstrike in the Sherzad district.

In another statement, the governor’s house said Jalalabad police detained 15 people accused of various crimes and they were being investigated.

Laghman officials said a Taliban zone-level in-charge of explosives transfer was killed and 600 kilograms of explosives recovered from him.

Rahmatullah Yarmal, the governor of Laghman, along with local security personnel in a press conference showed the body of the deceased Taliban rebel and the explosives.

The governor said the Taliban head in the eastern zone for explosives transfer was travelling in a pick-up vehicle when he was killed in a clash with NDS led Afghan security forces in Gandab Pul area on the Kabul-Jalalabad highway.

Yarmal said security forces recovered 600 kilograms of explosives from his vehicle.

The Laghman governor warned the Taliban to stop killing the Afghans and embrace peace or they would face counter attacks from Afghan security forces.

The Taliban and Daesh groups have not yet commented in this regard.

Hr/ma