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Afghanistan to be Daesh graveyard: President Ghani

Sunday, 06 March 2016 3:03 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 06 March 2016 3:48 PM ]

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani addresses a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul on December 31, 2015. (AFP photo)

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani says the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group has been defeated in the militant-riddled eastern parts of the war-ravaged country.

Speaking at the opening of parliament, Ghani said that Afghan military forces have cleared some regions of Daesh terrorists in Nangarhar Province.

"Afghanistan will be their graveyard," the president said in an address broadcast live on national television.

The remarks come as Afghan forces have claimed victory following a three-week long operation in the Achin and Shinwar districts of Nangarhar.

Operations against the militants included airstrikes to destroy militant hideouts and a radio station that was broadcasting Daesh recruitment messages across Nangarhar Province.

Afghan forces say they have killed at least 200 militants in the offensive across the troubled region.

Afghan Army Lt. Col. Sharin Aqa, a military spokesman, has said that the operation was aided by local residents who set up checkpoints to help maintain security in their villages.

"The aim of the operation in Nangarhar was to root out IS (Daesh) from the area," he said.

Achin and Shinwar are among a number of districts in the remote mountainous regions that were overtaken by Daesh loyalists in recent months.

Daesh has recently gained a foothold in Afghanistan, particularly in Nangarhar Province bordering Pakistan.

Afghanistan, parts of which have long been considered a bastion of Taliban, has recently been seeing the emergence and limited expansion of Daesh. Nangarhar, in particular, is one area where Daesh has visibly gained a foothold.

This file photo purportedly shows a number of militants being trained at a Daesh terror camp in an unknown location in Afghanistan.

The group is also using a sophisticated social media campaign to woo local Taliban and other militants.

On June 16, 2015, the Afghan Taliban militant group warned Daesh ringleader, Ibrahim al-Samarrai, also known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, against “waging a parallel insurgency in Afghanistan.”

Afghanistan is gripped by insecurity more than 14 years after the United States and its allies attacked the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. Although the 2001 attack overthrew the Taliban, many areas across Afghanistan still face violence and insecurity.

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