17 Daesh Militants Killed In Nangarhar drone strikes

NANGARHAR (TOLO News): At least 17 Daesh fighters were killed in drone strikes carried out by foreign forces in eastern Nangarhar province, the provincial police said in a statement Sunday.

The airstrikes were conducted in Haska Mina and Achin districts in the province in which hideouts and weapons belonged to the militants were destroyed, the statement said. The statement said 14 Daesh militants were killed Achin and three others Haska Mina district.

According to the statement, foreign fighters were are also among those killed in the airstrikes. The statement did not provide further details about the airstrikes.

This comes after government officials, MPs and some politicians have said they are concerned about the increase of Daesh activities in parts of the country.

Last year in December, Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special envoy to Afghanistan said that there are more than 10,000 Daesh fighters in Afghanistan.

Kabulov also alleged that helicopters “without identifying insignia” are transferring fighters and delivering “Western (military) equipment” to the Afghan branch of the terrorist group

However, the Chief of Afghanistan Army Staff Gen. Mohammad Sharif Yaftali rejected Kabulov’s figures about Daesh fighters in the country as fake and baseless.

“We confirm the presence of up to 2,000 Daesh fighters in Afghanistan. Mr. Kabulov is sick and it is his habit to utter big things,” Yaftali told lawmakers in the Wolesi Jirga, Lower House of Parliament, last year in December.

The US military officials said last week the United States will send in at least 1,000 new combat advisers to Afghanistan as part of its efforts to boost US training commitment to the country.

Besides the combat advisers, the US Defense Department is planning to reallocate drones and other hardware, US military officials said last week on Thursday.