ISIS Vs Afghan Taliban: A new international war starts in Afghanistan

KABUL – Islamic State fighters attacked the house of a Taliban commander inthe northern Afghan province of Sar-e Pul on Tuesday, killing at least 15people as they were attending a prayer ceremony, the provincial governor’soffice said.

The attack, in Sayyad district of Sar-e Pul, followed reports from localofficials of fighting between Islamic State and Taliban militants in othernorthern provinces over recent days. “Two Daesh fighters entered a Talibancommander’s house where a ceremony was underway and opened fire,” saidZabihullah Amani, spokesman for the Sar-e-Pul governor’s office said, usinga term widely used for Islamic State.Play Video1m 26s

Inside the Taliban heartland

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He said 15 Taliban were killed and another five wounded.

Northern Afghanistan has become one of the main areas of Islamic Stateactivity in Afghanistan as the movement has spread beyond its original basein the eastern province of Nangarhar, where it remains strong.

However establishing a clear picture of the group remains difficult in aremote and often mountainous region, with diverse bands of fighters andmilitiamen often switching sides between the Taliban, Islamic State andeven the pro-government camp.

In Nangarhar, a local commander known variously as Saba Gul or MohammadKhorasani was killed by a drone strike on Monday afternoon, the Nangarhargovernor’s spokesman Attaullah Khogyani, said.

A former Taliban commander, he moved to Islamic State after the group firstappeared in Nangarhar in late 2014 and was responsible for hundreds ofdeaths, Khogyani said. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, troops raided a Talibanprison in the southern province of Helmand late on Monday, releasing 58prisoners, officials said.ADVERTISEMENT

The Taliban prisoners, including both civilians and members of the securityforces, were released following an army raid on a prison in Musa Qaladistrict of Helmand province, according to a statement from the 215 Maiwandarmy corps.

Separately, Taliban fighters attacked three checkpoints of the Afghanborder forces in the southern province of Kandahar, killing nine members ofthe security forces and suffering 25 killed themselves, Kandahar policespokesman Zia Durani said.