Kailash Kumar
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Authorities arrest leader of ISIS in Afghanistan
PHILLIP WALTER WELLMAN
April 4, 2020
KABUL, Afghanistan — The head of the Islamic State’s Afghanistan affiliate has been arrested along with 19 of the group’s fighters, Afghan officials said Saturday.
Abdullah Orakzai, who goes by Aslam Farooqi, was detained by forces from the National Directorate of Security, the country’s main intelligence agency, a statement by the agency said.
The statement did not mention where or when the arrests took place.
Haris Jebran, an NDS spokesman, told Stars and Stripes that Farooqi and the others were detained on Friday, without providing further details.
U.S. airstrikes have targeted the Islamic State’s Afghanistan affiliate, knows as Islamic State - Khorasan Province, since early 2016.
Farooqi has led the group since last April when he replaced Abu Omar Khorasani, reportedly because of the former leaders “poor performance,” the United Nations said in a report in July.
Farooqi’s arrest is the latest setback for ISIS-K, which saw roughly 300 of its fighters surrender to government forces in the final months of 2019. The surrenders were the result of sustained American airstrikes, operations by Afghan forces and fighting between ISIS-K and the Taliban, the U.S. military said January in a report, describing the group’s stronghold in eastern Nangarhar province as “dismantled.”
However, the group continues to claim attacks across the country.
On March 25, ISIS-K said one of its gunmen was responsible for storming a Sikh temple in Kabul’s old town, killing over two dozen people.
That attack came less than a week after an Islamic State fighter fired mortars at Bagram Airfield, the largest American base in the country, without causing injuries.
Between 2,000 and 2,500 ISIS-K fighters are believed to be active in Afghanistan, according to the latest data provided by the U.S. military.
https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/authorities-arrest-leader-of-isis-in-afghanistan-1.624897
PHILLIP WALTER WELLMAN
April 4, 2020
KABUL, Afghanistan — The head of the Islamic State’s Afghanistan affiliate has been arrested along with 19 of the group’s fighters, Afghan officials said Saturday.
Abdullah Orakzai, who goes by Aslam Farooqi, was detained by forces from the National Directorate of Security, the country’s main intelligence agency, a statement by the agency said.
The statement did not mention where or when the arrests took place.
Haris Jebran, an NDS spokesman, told Stars and Stripes that Farooqi and the others were detained on Friday, without providing further details.
U.S. airstrikes have targeted the Islamic State’s Afghanistan affiliate, knows as Islamic State - Khorasan Province, since early 2016.
Farooqi has led the group since last April when he replaced Abu Omar Khorasani, reportedly because of the former leaders “poor performance,” the United Nations said in a report in July.
Farooqi’s arrest is the latest setback for ISIS-K, which saw roughly 300 of its fighters surrender to government forces in the final months of 2019. The surrenders were the result of sustained American airstrikes, operations by Afghan forces and fighting between ISIS-K and the Taliban, the U.S. military said January in a report, describing the group’s stronghold in eastern Nangarhar province as “dismantled.”
However, the group continues to claim attacks across the country.
On March 25, ISIS-K said one of its gunmen was responsible for storming a Sikh temple in Kabul’s old town, killing over two dozen people.
That attack came less than a week after an Islamic State fighter fired mortars at Bagram Airfield, the largest American base in the country, without causing injuries.
Between 2,000 and 2,500 ISIS-K fighters are believed to be active in Afghanistan, according to the latest data provided by the U.S. military.
https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/authorities-arrest-leader-of-isis-in-afghanistan-1.624897
