The Taliban* government has escalated its efforts in hunting down Daesh** terrorists amid a growing clash with the United States over the security situation in Afghanistan.
Data collated from Twitter handles run by the Taliban reveals that the Afghan leadership targeted Daesh hideouts on eight occasions this month between 3 and 26 March. It also showed that the Taliban carried out their counter-terrorism offensive against Daesh in Kabul and the provinces of Herat and Balkh.
In the same period, Afghanistan has witnessed a series of terror attacks commited by Daesh.
In the latest development, the notorious terrorist group claimed responsibility for Monday's suicide bombing that took place near the Afghan Foreign Ministry in Kabul and left at least six people dead and several more injured. This took the number of Daesh attacks on the Taliban to eight in March 2023.
High-Ranking Taliban Official Killed in Balkh
Earlier this month, a suicide bomber detonated explosives in the office of Balkh Governor Mohammad Daud Muzammil, leaving him dead. He was one of the highest-ranking Taliban officials killed since the group stormed to power in the war-torn country in August 2021.
In retaliation, the Taliban eliminated three key Daesh commanders last weekend. Among the dead included shadow governor for Daesh-Khorasan Mawlawi Ziauddin, senior group member Abu Omar Afridi, and bomb-making specialist Salman Tajikistani, in an offensive in Mazar-e-Sharif, the provincial capital of Balkh.
Taliban Calls Out US on Abetting Daesh Insurgents
As the news spread, Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington's main man behind the formulation of the Doha agreement with the Taliban, tweeted that the removal of terror leaders was a "significant" blow to Daesh-K in northern Afghanistan and a step towards complete implementation of the Doha Agreement, which "serves Afghan and US interests."
In reply to his tweets, however, ex-Taliban spokesperson Saeed Khosty said that Daesh was an "American project", adding that "there is no agreement on the fight against ISIS in the Doha agreement."
Meanwhile, General Michael Kurilla, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief, informed the US House Armed Services Committee that 6,500 Daesh fighters were present in Afghanistan.
In response, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that Kurilla's comments were untrue, adding that the rank and file of Daesh has been "suppressed" in Afghanistan.
He also alleged that Washington's analysis of the current situation concerning Daesh in the war-ravaged country was an exaggeration.
"The interest of the US officials in this matter and their grandiosity is aiding and abetting the ISIS (Daesh) insurgents, which should be stopped," Mujahid concluded.
*under UN sanctions for terrorism
**Daesh (also known as IS/ISIS) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia and other countries