Amid growing concerns regarding the expansion of terrorist activities by the loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan has announced that a new special force has been formed to counter the insurgency and threats posed by the terror group.

The acting Afghan Defense Minister, Masoom Stanikzai, has said the special force will mainly focus to counter the insurgency activities of ISIS loyalists in eastern parts of the country.

The loyalists of the terror group have recently increased their insurgency activities and anti-government propaganda besides terrorizing the residents of eastern parts of the country as they aim to establish a regional base in eastern Nangarhar province.

Stanikzai told the Afghan service of Voice of America (VOA) “The IS issue is the most important [issue], which should be hard hit. People are fed up with this group.”

He said the battalion consisting of 750 personnel of the Afghan army will continue to suppress the insurgency activities of the ISIS loyalists besides the ongoing airstrikes on ISIS targets.

The remarks by Stanikzai comes as the commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan Gen. John Campbell said last year that the loyalists of the terror group are attempting to establish a regional base in Jalalabad, the capital city of eastern Nangarhar province.

Gen. Campbell further added that foreign militants from Syria and Iraq had joined the loyalists of the terror group in eastern Nangarhar province and are trying to consolidate links with the leadership of the terror group based in Syria and Iraq.

Meanwhile, the US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter later said that the threat posed by the terror group is being tracked very closely as they have started creating ‘little nests’ in Afghanistan.

LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/4649

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