Daesh is not a Major Threat to Afghanistan: Mujahid

The Afghan security forces destroyed Daesh, which is not a major threat as it was a year ago, according to Zabihullah Mujahid, a senior spokesperson of the interim government. 

In a recent interview with Voice of America, Pashto, Mujahid said that the Afghan security forces “since August 2021, have arrested and imprisoned around 1,600 to 1,700 Islamic State militants and have killed more than 1,100.”

The remarks came as the Taliban usually downplaying the presence and the threat of Islamic State Khorasan Province militants in the country.

He said that the Daesh hideout had been destroyed across the country, including Zabul, Kunar and Jawjzan provinces, and that primarily ISKP militants were supported by the previous government. Some of them escaped from the prisons during the regime change.
However, he added that the Afghan security forces either killed, arrested, or imprisoned them.

However, a top US general, Michael Kurilla, commander of US Central Command, recently claimed while speaking to Congress that ISIS is stronger today than it was in Afghanistan.

Kurilla said, “at least hundreds of thousands” of US people could be at risk from an attack by ISIS, which has the “ultimate goal of striking on the US homeland.”

“ISIS-Khorasan grows emboldened, seeking to expand its ranks and inspire, enable and direct attacks in the region and beyond – with the ultimate goal of striking on the American homeland,” he added.

The American General estimated that there are at least 6,500 Daesh militants in Afghanistan, of which 4,000 are positioned close to the Tajikistan border.

Nevertheless, Taliban spokesman Mujahid denied the American claims, saying that Daesh militants had already been suppressed and their numbers had already been decreased, contrary to what US authorities had claimed to be the case.

Recently, Daesh took responsibility for the Kabul attack close to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, killing six people and injuring at least more than 12.

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