Islamic State attack on Afghan prison, killing 21, rages on

Editorial Team

January 12, 2022

Extra assailants opened fireplace. Three attackers have been killed to this point however the battle continued Monday with sporadic gunfire nonetheless coming from the jail grounds, stated Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province.

A few of the lifeless had been prisoners, stated Khogyani. in addition to civilians, jail guards and Afghan safety personnel.

The jail assault struck Jalalabad, Nangarhar’s provincial capital some 115 kilometers (70 miles) east of the capital, Kabul.

The Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan, generally known as IS in Khorasan province, claimed duty for the attack. The affiliate is headquartered in Nangarhar province.

The motive of the attack wasn’t instantly clear. Nonetheless, some prisoners have escaped in the course of the preventing, stated one other provincial official, who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not approved to talk to journalists.

The jail homes about 1,500 inmates, of which a number of hundred are believed to belong to the Islamic State group affiliate in Afghanistan.

The attack comes a day after the Afghan intelligence company stated a senior Islamic State group commander was killed by Afghan particular forces close to Jalalabad.

Whereas the Islamic State group has seen its so-called caliphate stretching throughout Iraq and Syria eradicated after a yearslong marketing campaign, the group has continued preventing in Afghanistan. The extremists even have battled the Taliban within the nation, whom the U.S. overthrew following the 2001 American-led invasion after the Sept. 11 assaults.

The Taliban’s political spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, instructed The Related Press that his group was not concerned within the Jalalabad attack. The U.S. struck a peace cope with the Taliban in February. A second, essential spherical of negotiations between the Taliban and the political management in Kabul has but to begin. Nonetheless, Washington and NATO have already got begun withdrawing troops consistent with the deal.

“We’ve a cease-fire and should not concerned in any of those assaults anyplace within the nation,” he stated.

The Taliban declared a three-day cease-fire beginning Friday for the most important Muslim vacation of Eid al-Adha. The cease-fire expired at 12 a.m. Monday although it wasn’t instantly clear if it will be prolonged because the U.S. pushes for an early begin to intra-Afghan negotiations which have repeatedly been delayed since Washington signed a peace cope with the Taliban in February.

The Taliban additionally had denied being concerned in a suicide bombing in jap Logar province late Thursday that killed not less than 9 individuals and wounded 40.

Afghanistan has seen a current spike in violence, with most assaults claimed by the native Islamic State group affiliate.

Related Press author Kathy Gannon in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Source Link