Aghan Taliban spokesperson says security forces killed 8, arrested 7 militants during an operation
\n KABUL
\nMilitants involved in the attack on the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul and a separate attack on a hotel targeting Chinese nationals were killed, said Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid on Thursday confirming details of an operation that \u201celiminated a group of ISKP in Kabul and Nimroz provinces\u201d.
\nEarlier in December, a Pakistani security guard had been wounded by shots fired at the Pakistan embassy in the Afghan capital, in what Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had called \u201can assassination attempt\u201d on the head of the mission Ubaidur Rehman Nizamani, who remained safe.
\nThe following day, the outlawed Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement cited by jihadist monitor SITE, the IS\u2019 Khorasan chapter had said it had \u201cattacked the Pakistani ambassador and his guards\u201d.
\nAccording to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on December 4, \u201cwe have seen reports that the IS-KP has accepted responsibility for the terrorist attack on the Pakistan Embassy compound on December 2, 2022.\u201d
\nThe statement said, \u201cindependently and in consultation with the Afghan authorities, we are verifying the veracity of these reports.\u201d
\nMeanwhile, on December 12, armed men had opened fire inside a hotel in central Kabul popular with Chinese nationals. Beijing had later confirmed that five of its nationals were wounded in the attack.
\nZabihullah Mujahid, in a statement issued today, said that the security forces of the Taliban administration had carried out operations against a \u201cdangerous and important network\u201d of Daesh (Islamic State) on Wednesday.
\nThe spokesman confirmed that eight members of the militant group, including foreign nationals, were killed in the operation, while seven others were arrested and that the Daesh members were involved in both of the aforementioned attacks.
\nA female IS-KP member was also reportedly arrested during the operation. However, Mujahid refrained from sharing the details of the militant\u2019s nationalities \u201cfor security purposes\u201d.
\n\u201cThe scores of suspects arrested have been relocated for investigation,\u201d Mujahid told local media.
\nFurthermore, he said that the slain militants had also been planning more attacks on \u201cseveral other important places\u201d.
\n\u201cThey planned to bring in Daesh members from other countries to Afghanistan and carry out widespread coordinated attacks,\u201d he added, claiming that the \u201cgroup was the most lethal\u201d.
\nThe spokesperson went on to state that three \u201chideouts\u201d had been \u201cdestroyed\u201d during the operation conducted in the Shuda-e-Saliheen and Qalacha areas as well as Zaranj, the capital of Nimroz province.
\n\u201cA large number of small arms, hand grenades, mines, suicide vests and explosives were obtained,\u201d he said.
\nA day earlier, the United States had Threatened to \u2018take action\u2019 against the Taliban regime if it observed international terrorists regrouping in Afghanistan.
\nIn a press briefing, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price, while responding to a question regarding the Taliban\u2019s inability to fulfill their commitments regarding safe havens for terrorist groups, had stated that the militant group was \u201ceither unable or unwilling to live up to the commitments that they\u2019ve made in a number of areas\u201d.
\n\u201cOne of those areas is the commitment they have made to counterterrorism, to seeing to it that Afghanistan does not once again become a haven for international terrorists, a launch pad for attacks against countries well beyond its borders,\u201d he stated, adding that this was an interest of the US.
\nMeanwhile, according to The Express Tribune official sources had told that Pakistan intended to approach the interim Afghan government with a fresh demand to deny the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates any space on Afghan soil.
\nWhile the civil and military leadership decided to deal with the TTP and other terror outfits with iron hands, the Afghan Taliban would be asked to cooperate in this endeavour, they said, adding that the Afghan Taliban would be given one choice\u2014\u201ceither you are with Pakistan or with the TTP\u201d.
\nThe spokesperson maintained that the US had \u201ccapabilities\u201d regarding counterterrorism in the region which did not leave them \u201centirely beholden to the Taliban\u201d.
\nHe highlighted that the US had \u201cdemonstrated those capabilities in recent months with the killing of the now-deceased al-Qaida emir, Ayman al-Zawahiri\u201d.
\nAccording to Price, the US had made \u201cgood on the pledge that you have consistently heard from President Biden since the withdrawal of military forces from Afghanistan last year, that we will take action if we see international terrorists regrouping in Afghanistan\u201d.
\n\u201cWe will take action in a way that protects our interests,\u201d he reiterated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Aghan Taliban spokesperson says security forces killed 8, arrested 7 militants during an operation KABUL Militants involved in the attack on the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul and a separate attack on a hotel targeting Chinese nationals were killed, said Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid on Thursday confirming details of an operation that \u201celiminated a group […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305652,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-305741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n