Officials on Tuesday said 37 Islamic State or Daesh fighters have been killed and another 44 wounded since last evening when a major operation against was launched in the Kot district of eastern Nangarhar province.
Attaullah Khogyani, the Nangarhar governor’s spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News security forces had recaptured a number of areas including Khwargai, Janjal Ghundi and Seh Pai villages from the self-styled IS group.
On Thursday night, hundreds of Daesh militants attacked several villages in the Kot district and captured them, with local officials saying security forces tactically retreated from these areas.
Gen. Mohammad Nasim Sangin, the 201 Selab Military Corps fourth brigade commander, told Pajhwok the latest offensive had resulted in recapturing a number of areas.
“We launched the offensive yesterday afternoon and captured Janjal Ghundi, Seh Pai and other nearby areas. We lost two soldiers and another two were wounded during the operation,” he said.
Sangin also confirmed 37 Daesh militants had been killed and 40 others wounded during the operation since yesterday.
“Daesh militants are on the run, they have emplaced many landmines in the district and we have found and defused 40 landmines since yesterday. Our operation is successfully ongoing.”
During the capture of Janjal Ghundi and Seh Pai areas, the official said they found four dead bodies of local gunmen who resisted the Daesh fighters.
Governor Salim Khan Kunduzi told Pajhwok that ground and air forces were taking part in the Kot operation and the district would be soon purged of Daesh presence.
He said the IS militants had torched 90 homes of local residents and 500 families had been displaced as a result of the attack.
The governor said the displaced families would return to their homes once the situation in the district was improved and their destroyed homes would be reconstructed.
Nangarhar provincial council secretary Zabihullah Zamarai hailed the operation in Kot as well-coordinated and said the offensive had good results. The public representative urged both sides of the conflict to avoid harming civilians.
A statement from the governor’s house said civilians had suffered no casualties during the ongoing operation in the Kot district.
Malak Aman Khan, a tribal elder in Dawani village of Kot district, claimed most of the Daesh fighters were Pakistanis who used light and heavy weapons during the clashes against security forces.
“The operation in Kot needs to be intensified. Both sides are using heavy and light weapons and this is creating problems for local residents,” he said.
The Daesh group has so far said nothing about the operation in Kot.
pajhwok.com
