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Daesh militants attack Nangarhar district, torch 60 houses

Saturday, 14 January 2017 10:29 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 14 January 2017 11:27 AM ]

Afghan man clears debris at the site of a bombing that targeted a gathering of the local tribal elders in the Chaparhar district of Nangarhar Province on October 31, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Militants of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group have raided a district in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar, setting fire to some 60 houses there.

Attaullah Khogyani, the provincial governor’s spokesman, said people had fled their homes before the Daesh attack in Kot District on Friday, local media reported.

There have been no reports of possible casualties.

Local officials said that the raid came after Kot residents refused to pledge allegiance to the terror outfit.

Despite the presence of thousands of foreign boots on the ground, Afghanistan has been rocked by a surge in terrorist attacks, some of them carried out by Daesh.

The rise of Daesh in Afghanistan has raised concerns in the Asian country that has already been torn apart by decades of Taliban-led militancy and the 2001 invasion of the US and its allies.

Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan, has been the main area where Daesh has managed to carry out high-profile attacks.

The terrorist organization, which is mainly active in Syria and Iraq, has recently managed to take recruits from Afghan Taliban defectors. It has also enjoyed defections from al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

On October 11, 2016, at least 18 people were killed in a Daesh attack at the Karte Sakhi Shrine in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The assault targeted people commemorating Ashura, which marks the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the third Shia Imam.

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