Taliban security forces killed two militants from the ISIS group and detained a third in an overnight raid in the Afghan capital of Kabul, the spokesman for the Taliban government said Monday.
The regional affiliate of the ISIS group — known as the ISIS in Khorasan Province — is a key rival of the Taliban. The militant group has increased its attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover of the country in August 2021. Targets have included Taliban patrols and members of Afghanistan’s Shiite minority, The Associated Press said.
According to Zabihullah Mujahid, the main Taliban government spokesman in Kabul, the operation took place in a residential neighborhood, targeting ISIS militants who were planning to organize attacks in the Afghan capital. He said the Kher Khana neighborhood is an important ISIS hideout.
There was no immediate comment from the ISIS.
Mujahid said two ISIS members were killed and one was arrested, and ammunition and military equipment were seized in the raid. There were no casualties among the Taliban forces during the operation, he added.
In a separate operation this month, Taliban intelligence forces killed three ISIS militants and arrested one in an overnight operation in eastern part of Kabul, in Karti Naw neighborhood. The Taliban had claimed that ISIS was behind organized recent attacks in the capital.
Overnight, posts on social media reported several explosions and small-arms fire in the area of Kher Khana.
The Taliban swept across the country in mid-August 2021, seizing power as US and NATO forces were in the last weeks of their final withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.
