Monitoring Desk
HERAT: Twenty eight gunmen including Taliban and Daesh gunmen were killed in separate ground operations and airstrikes in Jwand district in Badghis province.
Afghan Special Forces raided Taliban and Daesh sanctuaries in Punjbuz area in Jwand district last night, Badghis governor’s spokesman Jamshed Shahabi told Afghan Islamic Press (AIP).
The Resolute Support forces conducted bombardment on Taliban and Daesh bases during the offensive, he said. Eighteen Taliban and 10 Daesh fighters were killed while 40 Daesh gunmen were arrested alive in the operation, he added. A prison of the armed opponents was targeted in the airstrikes, he said. Information about casualties in the blitz on prison was not available at the moment, he added.
Meanwhile, defence ministry spokesman Ghafoor Ahmad Javed said 10 Daesh gunmen were killed in the operation. Sixteen more Daesh gunmen including foreign fighters were arrested along with their children and wives in the offensive.
Javed did not say anything about casualties to Taliban in the operation. Similarly, he did not disclose the identity of the arrested Daesh gunmen.
Officials of Afghan National Army (ANA) third regiment in Badghis said 22 Taliban fighters and three Daesh gunmen were killed and 20 more gunmen were arrested alive in the operation.
Some sources in Badghis told AIP that Taliban had imprisoned Daesh gunmen along with their family members in Jwand. They had been arrested during clashes in Jawzjan, Darzaab and Sare Pul provinces few months ago.
The Daesh gunmen arrested by the Afghan government included the citizens of Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Turkey and other countries. Only 10 of them were Afghan nationals.
It is believed that Qari Rahmatullah was also killed in the operation last night. Qari Rahmatullah led Daesh gunmen in Murghab area in Feroz Koh city, capital of Ghor pvoince. He was imprisoned with Taliban.
In the meantime, Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousaf Ahmadi told AIP that joint Afghan and US forces raided Punjbuz area in Jwand district last night. Taliban had imprisoned Daesh gunmen in the area, he said. Two security guards of the prison were killed in the operation. The security forces took away 40 Daesh prisoners. “It seems the US occupying forces and slave troops of Kabul administration raided the area to free Daesh gunmen,” he said.
A local Taliban official told AIP that the Daesh gunmen taken away by the government included children and women. Taliban had arrested these people during clashes in Dazaab district in Jawzjan province. They were imprisoned by Taliban in Jwand district of Badghis.
The Taliban official said some of the released Daesh gunmen were residents of Uzbekistan. They had come from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan to support Daesh.
A Taliban prison was targeted in the operation last night. Some of Daesh gunmen were possibly killed in the blitz, he said. He, however, did not provide information about casualties to Taliban gunmen.
Daesh has not said anything in this regard so far.
It is pertinent to mention here that a Taliban commander identified as Abdul Razzaq Mehdi joined Taliban ranks in Farah province few years ago. Some foreign fighters also joined Daesh ranks in Farah. They started infiltrating into Herat, Nimroz and Badghis provinces from this area. However, Taliban took strong action against this group at that time.
For the first time reports are given about the presence of Taliban in Badghis. (AIP)
