Afghan Taliban give worst blow to ISIS in Afghanistan

Afghan Taliban give worst blow to ISIS in Afghanistan

KABUL - Afghan Taliban have given a worst blow to ISIS in Afghanistan and more surprisingly have helped Afghan forces to do that.

More than 150 ISIS surrendered to Afghan security forces in the northwestern province of Jawzjan after they were defeated and driven out by the Taliban, Taliban and government officials said on Wednesday.

The defeat represents a major setback for the group, which first appeared in eastern Afghanistan around four years ago and which had gained a foothold in southern Jawzjan, where it fought for control of smuggling routes into neighboring Turkmenistan.

“The evil phenomenon of Daesh has completely been eliminated and people have been freed from its tortures in Jawzjan province of Afghanistan,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement, using an Arabic term for the group.

The Taliban launched an offensive several weeks ago in Jawzjan against the group, which they oppose as much as they do the Western-backed government in Kabul and which has established an unmatched reputation for brutality.

Last month, General John Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan, welcomed the fact that the Taliban were fighting Islamic State, which he said had to be destroyed.

US forces have launched air strikes against ISIS in Jawzjan in recent months, but the Taliban has rejected any suggestion of cooperation and accused the United States of trying to obstruct them.

The fighting prompted thousands of people to flee to the provincial capital of Sheberghan, where many gave shocking accounts of the brutality of Islamic State fighters and commanders in Darzab and Qush Tepa, the two districts they controlled before being driven out.

Mujahid said more than 150 ISIS had been killed and more than 130 captured by the Taliban with the rest surrendering to government forces rather than the Taliban.

Afghan government officials said 152 fighters from the ISIS strongholds of Darzab and Qush Tepa surrendered to security forces in the early hours of the morning.

Mawlawi Habiburrahman, commander of ISIS forces in the north, and another commander called Mufti Nematullah were among those who surrendered, they said.

Bands of ISIS have been increasingly active in northern Afghanistan in recent years, fighting the Taliban for control of resources and sparking alarm in neighboring nations. - Agencies