Security

Taliban Spokesman: No Place for Daesh in Afghanistan

Wasef Khalili

The Afghan interim government has arrested over 670 militants of Daesh, also known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP or ISIS-K), during the last three months, the Taliban spokesman said, adding that there is no place for these terrorists in Afghanistan.

During an exclusive interview with Anadolu News Agency, the interim government spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said that 25 hideouts of the terrorist group have also been destroyed in Kabul and Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province.

“Daesh is no longer a big threat in Afghanistan. It was a small group that has now been dismantled in Kabul and Jalalabad,” Mujahid claimed.

He accused the former government of Ashraf Ghani of strengthening Daesh in Kabul and Nangarhar province in order to use them against the Taliban.

Mujahid is also the acting Deputy Minister of Culture and Information of the Taliban’s interim government in Afghanistan.

Daesh carried out several attacks after the Taliban took over Kabul in mid-August, including two deadly bombings in Shia mosques in the northern Kunduz and southern Kandahar provinces, which killed nearly 100 people and wounded dozens of others in October this year.

“Initially, when we entered Kabul (in mid-August this year), there was no security and communication system, and that helped Daesh to carry out attacks and target mosques and public places, to spread fear among the civilians,” the Taliban spokesman said, adding that the vacuum provided them with an opportunity to target civilians.

Mujahid was referring to the deadly bombing carried out by Daesh in August near the Hamid Karzai Airport in the capital, Kabul. At least 170 Afghans, including women and children, were killed and over 150 others wounded in the attack targeting a crowd of people who wanted to leave the country after the Taliban takeover.

“Earlier, Daesh had the support of former government forces but now we have destroyed their hideouts, as these terrorists have no place in Afghanistan because the Afghan people have rejected their ideology,” Mujahid said, adding the arrested people are in jail and the government will deal with them under the Sharia law.