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Most Daesh fighters in Afghanistan are TTP fighters: US General
Nearly 70 percent of the Daesh fighters in Afghanistan are Pakistani Taliban who joined Daesh after having been forced out of their country, says a top US General.
General John Nicholson, who is the commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said that a dozen terrorist groups were still operating in Afghanistan, despite of his country fighting in Afghanistan for 15 years.
“In the case of Islamic State Khorasan province, the majority of the members are from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),” said the general while briefing Washington-based journalists at the Pentagon earlier this week. Many of these terrorists were forced out of Pakistan by the Zarb-i-Azb military operation, he added.
Gen Nicholson said that many IS fighters in Nangarhar province came from Pakistan’s Orakzai tribal agency. “And they were former members of the TTP, complete with their leadership, who wholesale joined Islamic State, pledged bayt (allegiance) to Islamic State and joined them earlier this year,” he said, adding that 70pc, roughly, of those fighters were from the banned TTP and many of them were Pakhtuns from Orakzai.
Gen Nicholson said the IS, also known by Arabic acronym Daesh, militants were exporting their radical ideology from their bases in Iraq and Syria to Afghanistan and other countries in the region.
“Daesh is only one of nine US-designated terrorist organizations here in Afghanistan,” he said. “Additionally, there are three other violent extremist organizations.”
Alarmed by the increasing influence of these militant groups, the United States recently resumed its air strikes in Afghanistan.
“These groups are the principal focus of our counterterrorism mission,” Gen Nicholson said, adding that besides Daesh and the Afghan Taliban, the Pakistani Taliban and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan were also operating. Some fighters from both groups have now migrated over to join Daesh.
Gen Nicholson said Daesh was involved in last Saturday’s attack in Kabul that left more than 80 civilians dead. He said Daesh controlled around 10 districts in Nangarhar province in December last year. But since January, when President Barack Obama authorized US forces to participate in counterterrorism attacks, the group has been forced to retreat from some of the areas.
Gen Nicholson said the increasing influence of Daesh in Afghanistan had also led to clashes between them and the Afghan Taliban, contributing to Daesh’s retreat from some areas. “So, now since January, their area has shrunk to parts of three or four districts in southern Nangarhar.”
He said the US forces were now working with Afghan security forces to reclaim significant portions of the territory that was previously controlled by Daesh. Many Daesh commanders and soldiers were killed in these joint operations and their key infrastructure capabilities and logistical nodes were destroyed, he added.
“Daesh fighters are retreating south into the mountains of southern Nangarhar. We will continue to stay after Daesh until they are defeated here in Afghanistan,” Gen Nicholson said.
He explained that this “critical fight” was part of a larger global strategy against the IS and coincided with ongoing operations in Iraq and Syria. He said there were an estimated 3,000 IS fighters in Afghanistan in January, many of them members of other terrorist groups that changed allegiance.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs says on the occasion of International Labor Day, the Islamic Emirate is trying to increase the number of job opportunities in the country.
The ministry said that it has distributed work permits to more than 2,000 people, including women, during the past month.
“Work permits were given to 2,115 of our compatriots over the past month, including to 205 women,” said Samiullah Ebrahimi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works.
“Of course, women have been permitted to work in sectors where women are necessary and their services are for women,” he added.
Meanwhile, workers in the country complain about the lack of jobs and say that the level of unemployment has increased and workers’ wages have decreased.
Afghanistan is one of the countries that has countless child laborers, and according to reports, governments have not been able to end this practice.
“I work for 200 to 300 afghanis a day, and there are eight members in our family,” said one child laborer.
“I am 12 years old and in sixth grade. I earn 150 afghanis per day, there are seven of us and I have been working here for one and a half years,” said another child laborer.
According to UN statistics, in 2024, more than 23 million people in Afghanistan need humanitarian aid, and that most of them are unemployed.
However, the demands are that international institutions should provide work for the people of Afghanistan by implementing development projects.
The Islamic Emirate’s Miynister of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, says there is no gap between the current system and the people and that cooperation with the Islamic system is the people’s Sharia duty, the ministry said in a statement.
At a gathering in Kabul, Hanafi said: “This Islamic system is the people’s system, the people are considered part of this system, there is no gap between the system and the people. Therefore, cooperation with the Islamic system is the people’s Sharia duty.”
“It’s a very positive thing that we Afghan people do not have differences among ourselves as before, we live under the command of one leader and the flag of the Islamic system,” Hanafi stressed.
“The goal of Jihad was to end the occupation, gain independence and strengthen the Islamic system in the country,” he stated, adding that “all these goals have been achieved with the help of God and the cooperation of Afghans.”
“Now the time has come to serve and cooperate with the people to solve the problems and implement the Sharia rules of the Islamic system,” he added.
The ministry stated that in addition to providing and protecting women’s Sharia rights, thousands of complaints have been resolved so far.
The Deputy Spokesman of the US State Department says that when the interests of his country are involved, Washington will not hesitate to interact with the Islamic Emirate.
Vedant Patel said that interaction with the Islamic Emirate is not only the best way to protect the interests of America, but also to support the people of Afghanistan.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, he said interaction with the Islamic Emirate provides the basis for a direct dialogue with them.
According to Patel, this interaction is an opportunity to continue the pressure on the Islamic Emirate for the immediate and unconditional release of American citizens, including those who have been caught “unjustly”.
Patel added that the United States would also take advantage of these opportunities to talk directly with the Islamic Emirate about commitments to counter terrorism. He emphasized that Washington human rights issues are also on the agenda.
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Tahawol: Human rights situation in Afghanistan discussed
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