Last week’s Islamic State bombing of a protest rally in Kabul that killed 80 people and injured over 200 more came amid a major assault by the Afghan army – and US special operations forces – on the group’s stronghold in eastern Afghanistan. Three of the soldiers were evacuated from the area and two returned to duty.
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“There was not one incident or specific firefight, but these service members were wounded over the course of the clearing operations General Nicholson described”, a Pentagon spokesman, Adam Stump, said in a statement.
The US special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (Sigar) found that the Nato-backed Afghan government is in control of 65.6% of districts in the country – a drop from the 70.5% it held in January 2016.
He said “We will continue to stay after Daesh until they are defeated here in Afghanistan”. Gen. Charles Cleveland, said that ISIS operatives in Afghanistan numbered between 1,000 and 3,000 loyalists – though probably closer to 1,500.
United States military spokesman Brigadier General Charles Cleveland said of the effect it will have on the terror group: “We think that Daesh is under pressure”.
“I am very happy to see the government forces defeated Daesh and saved us from the atrocities and terror”, he said as troops moved about pulling down the posters and flags covering numerous surrounding walls.
U.S. President Barack Obama announced earlier in July that he will leave 8,400 troops in Afghanistan through 2016, a reversal of his earlier plan to lower that number to 5,500 by January 2017.
Afghan security forces, backed by USA air strikes, have been targeting ISIS in Nangarhar holdouts for several months. Known for his brutality, he led a number of attacks against the Afghan Taliban and government forces in an effort to enforce the group’s stronghold in the area.
“Since January, [ISIS] area has shrunk to about three or four districts … in southern Nangarhar”, said Nicholson during a press briefing Thursday, adding the affiliate group is engaging in attacks and atrocities similar to those in Iraq and Syria. “We have killed many Daesh commanders and soldiers, destroyed key infrastructure capabilities, logistical nodes, and Daesh fighters are retreating south into the mountains of southern Nangahar as we speak”.
In 2015, the Afghan forces took 20,000 total casualties, which itself is a high figure for a young army, Nicholson noted. But the Afghan Army’s progress came slower than once projected and a year ago a faction of the Islamic State group emerged there.
The commander said those types of attacks don’t necessarily show a sign of ISIS gaining strength.
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“It’s nested within a larger global strategy against the Islamic State, …”
