MoI rejects fall of districts in Faryab as SF fighting against Taliban

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) rejected fall of districts in Faryab province and said that Special Forces (SF) have been deployed to the province and fighting against Taliban alongside with police.

MoI confirms that recently threats have been increased in Faryab province but emphasized that all Taliban attacks have been thwarted.

The ministry expressed ignorance over beheading of 60 people including Afghan soldiers in Faryab.

“Currently, a number of our special forces are launching operations alongside other forces and I cannot say anything regarding the security forces and civilians causalities,” Sidiq Sidiqi, spokesman of MoI said.

Sidiqi noted that all offensive operations are going on against the Taliban in all parts of the country.

MoI rejected reports about Hafeez Sayeed to be alive whom Afghanistan said died Friday in an airstrike in Nangahar province that killed more than 30 militants.

The Islamic State group released an online audio clip Monday they claim came from the leader of an Afghan affiliate that authorities there say was killed in a U.S. airstrike.

Friday’s strike comes after Afghan officials earlier said another U.S. airstrike killed the affiliate’s second-highest official, Gul Zaman, and six others, including a former Pakistani Taliban spokesman named Shahidullah Shahid who earlier had joined the group.

In the audio, which was posted on known militant websites, a man speaking Pashtun calls on listeners to join the Islamic State group. The man also criticizes the Taliban.

The audio included no time stamps to date it. The Islamic State group’s al-Bayan radio identified the man Monday as Sayeed, without elaborating. Sayeed is not well-known in Afghanistan.

Disenchanted extremists from the Taliban and other organizations, impressed by the Islamic State group’s territorial gains in Syria and Iraq and its slick online propaganda, began raising its black flag in extremist-dominated areas in Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent months.