Afghan President: ISIS Being Wiped Out in Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani said on Sunday that the Islamic State (ISIS) has been defeated in the eastern parts of the country, where it had taken over some remote districts.
Afghan President: ISIS Being Wiped Out in Afghanistan
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during Afghan Air Force aerial demonstration ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Feb. 11, 2016. Afghanistan’s air force has recently taken delivery of aircraft from the U.S. and India to enhance air power in the war against the Taliban, now in its 15th year. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
The Associated Press
3/6/2016
Updated:
3/6/2016

KABUL, Afghanistan—Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani said on Sunday that the Islamic State (ISIS) has been defeated in the eastern parts of the country, where it had taken over some remote districts.

Speaking at the opening of parliament, Ghani said Afghan forces had dislodged ISIS loyalists from regions of Nangarhar province bordering Pakistan.

“Afghanistan will be their graveyard,” he said in an address broadcast live on national television.

ISIS has had a presence in Afghanistan for more than a year. Officials have said most militants calling themselves ISIS are disaffected Taliban fighters.

Afghan forces have claimed victory following a 21-day operation in the Achin and Shinwar districts of Nangarhar, claiming at least 200 militants killed, a provincial official told The Associated Press.

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The Taliban have intensified their war to overthrow the Kabul government. The usual winter lull on fighting did not come in the southern regions, notably Helmand province where most of the opium that produces the world’s heroin supply is grown.

Officials have said the fight in Helmand, which the Taliban consider part of their heartland, is for control of the smuggling routes, and some Taliban groups have been fighting each other. The drug production is worth up to $3 billion a year. ISIS is believed to be interested in Afghanistan because of the riches offered from contraband, including weapons, alcohol and minerals.

A direct dialogue between representatives of the government and the Taliban had been slated for the first weeks of March, reviving a peace process that was scuttled last year when Kabul announced that the Taliban’s founder and leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had been dead for more than two years.

A Taliban statement on Sunday said that Mullah Omar’s successor, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, had not given approval for any participation in talks with the Afghan government.

Kabul has reached out to all insurgent groups to join the peace process and has said it will wipe out those who do not participate.