KABUL - Resolute Support Mission’s (RS) Public Affairs Director Capt. Tom Gresback said in an interview with TOLOnews that 1,600 Daesh militants were killed in 2017 in Afghanistan and that the Daesh threat is not increasing in the country.
According to Gresback, Daesh is active in only three provinces in the country and that the existing threat is not growing.
He also said RS’s Air Forces along the Afghan security forces were able to push back Daesh about seven kilometers in Mohmand Dara in Achin district in Nangarhar.
“The number of ISIS-K fighters killed in Afghanistan in 2017 was approximately 1,600 fighters,” said Gresback.
Gresback also called on Taliban to join the Afghan peace process and said if they failed to do so they would be targeted anywhere in the country. He said Taliban should use winter for negotiationswith the Afghan government.
“Our message to the Taliban is reconciliation. We will continue to pursue them unabated through the winter months. There will be no breaks during the winter months, it will be a long winter for the Taliban,” Gresback said.
Afghan defense ministry meanwhile said they are targeting Daesh militants wherever they are in the country and insisted that reports of a rise in Daesh numbers were not true.
A number of members of parliament, however said Daesh activities and movements in the country pose a serious threat. They blasted government over hiding information about Daesh activities in the country.
Although RS says Daesh only exists in three provinces, MPs claim Daesh is active in more than three provinces.  (Tolonews)