Afghanistan

‘Daesh hideout’ raided in Kabul; 10 killed, say sources

Taliban members on a Kabul street. File photo.

At least 10 militants affiliated with Daesh were killed in a Taliban raid in the Kart-e-Naw area in Kabul’s east on Monday evening, sources from Taliban’s police and intelligence said.

The sources said five women and nine children from Daesh families were arrested in the raid.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed in a tweet that they raided a “Daesh hideout” in Kabul where foreign nationals were also living.

It is the group that was involved in recent attacks and foreign nationals are also among them, Taliban spokesman for the interior ministry, Khalid Zadran, said hours after the start of the raid in Kabul’s Police District 8.

Residents of the area reported back-to-back explosions and gunfights from the area when the raid started.

This comes after the United Nations in a report last week said that militants affiliated with Daesh threatened to target Chinese, Indian, and Iranian embassies in Afghanistan in an effort to isolate the Taliban from a number of countries in the region.

UN said in a report that Daesh militants in Afghanistan are attempting to “undermine the relationship between the Taliban and member states in the region.”

Daesh has claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in Afghanistan over the past two months, including an attack on the foreign ministry compound in Kabul, an attack on the Pakistani embassy and an attack on Chinese nationals at a hotel in downtown Kabul.

Dozens of civilians were killed in attacks claimed by Daesh in the past two months in Kabul.