Afghans gather property, left behind by victims of a deadly explosion that struck a protest march by ethnic Hazaras, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, July 23, 2016. It is the first instance that Afghan air strikes have caused more casualties than strikes by global parties.
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Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Monday telephoned Afghan President and said Pakistan’s government and people stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Afghanistan following the tragic July 23rd terrorist attacks in Kabul.
Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish also said, “They have been taught a lesson for their crimes”.
The Afghan offensive, with USA support, began on Saturday, hours after ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack in the capital, Kabul, that killed around 80 people.
President Ashraf Ghani gave the orders for the offensive, which Waziri said will consist of airstrikes and ground attacks, including those by special forces.
The offensive marks the start of a new chapter in the country’s war against insurgents.
Until now they have been a largely defensive force, and have struggled to take the lead on the battlefield since the withdrawal in 2014 of most worldwide combat forces. American forces that remained shifted to a supporting role and USA airstrikes diminished, letting the Afghan military take the lead in carrying out the war.
A government spokesman said Afghan forces had killed Saad Emarati, whom he identified as a key Islamic State commander in the region.
Obama’s directives, issued in June, enable the USA military to work alongside Afghan forces in the field on offensive missions against insurgents, though still in a non-combat role.
After reviewing the redacted investigation report, which was released in April, the United Nations mission believes there are grounds for further investigation into whether US personnel committed war crimes, according to the report, since the investigation did not address the issue of criminal liability for recklessness. Gen. Charles H. Cleveland said worldwide cooperation would be needed to tackle Islamic State in Afghanistan.
“Afghan government is committed to implementing its obligations as enshrined in the Constitution concerning protection of civilians, and has made them an integral part of the conduct of the Security and Defence Forces of the country”, the Presidential Palace said in a statement.
Earlier this year Afghan and US counterterror forces conducted operations against the group in its strongholds in Nangahar, killing an estimated 200 Islamic State fighters, according to the Pentagon report. Another 122 had been wounded, he said. The numbers could not be independently verified.
Casualties caused by roadside bombs decreased dramatically, by 21%, a drop the United Nations attributed to changes in the nature of the conflict, as well as better bomb-detection by the government.
Nangarhar is one of Afghanistan’s most economically important provinces, a major producer of agricultural goods and a thoroughfare for much of the country’s exports to Pakistan and beyond. Daesh has also capitalized on splits emerging among the ranks of the Taliban since the news broke a year ago of the death of the Taliban founder and long-time leader Mullah Omar.
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Afghan security forces, backed by US air strikes, have been targeting ISIS in Nangarhar holdouts for several months.
