Afghan Special Security Forces and U.S. Special Operators killed an ISIS-K commander and another terrorist fighter during a partnered nighttime raid in the isolated village of Mughul, Darzab district, Jowzjan province, Afghanistan, Mar. 26-27, 2018.
This tactical defeat of ISIS-K fighters in Jowzjan is the most recent in a series of Afghan and U.S. SOF counterterrorism successes targeting ISIS-K in northern Afghanistan this year.
On Mar. 22, ASSF and USSOF eliminated four ISIS-K fighters in Darzab district. Six days earlier on Mar. 16, a U.S. airstrike killed ISIS-K platoon commanders, Omair and Abu Samaya, as the duo met in Sar-e Pul province.
Later that evening, an ASSF nighttime raid on the ISIS-K headquarters in Jowzjan resulted in the removal of another 13 terrorists. Omair and Abu Samaya’s predecessor Khitab Aka, ISIS-K’s head facilitator of foreign fighters in Jowzjan, was captured by Afghan forces on Jan. 28.
ISIS-K is unable to take root in Afghanistan, relying on exploiting tribal rivalries for short-term allegiance and external support for fighters, equipment and financing.
