JALALABAD - A senior intelligence official on Thursday said the Islamic State or Daesh militants would likely to look for finding a hideout in eastern Kunar province after being wiped out from Nangarhar province.
National Directorate of Security (NDS) chief for Nangarhar Gen. Dad Mohammad Harifi told a press conference here that the next hideout for Daesh might be Kunar province.
“Daesh has been comprehensively suppressed in Nangarhar and limited to Achin and Haska Mena districts. Up to 250 Daesh fighters are seen in Kunar, so I think the province would be their next hideout after Nangarhar,” he said.
Up to 572 fighters have been arrested over the past one year and their cases sent to the departments concerned, he added.
Meanwhile, Nangarhar police chief Maj. Gen. Fazal Ahmad Sherzad said the IS fighters still existed in Owghaz and Gorgori areas of Haska Mena district and some areas of Achin, but they had been weakened enough to strike back.
“We have killed 762 militants in the past one year and conducted hundreds of operations and cleared many areas from the presence of insurgents,” he said.
The 201st Selab Military Corps 4th brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Nasim Sangin, said the Afghan army had conducted 45 operations and killed more than 1500 militants in the past one year. (Pajhwok)