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Daesh seizes Afghanistan’s Tora Bora: Afghan officials

Friday, 16 June 2017 4:23 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 16 June 2017 10:09 AM ]

An Afghan soldier is seen during an attack by Daesh terrorists in Nangarhar Province in May.

The Daesh terrorist group has occupied Afghanistan’s famous Tora Bora mountainous area, which is dotted with caves and tunnels, along the border with Pakistan, Afghan officials say.

Officials said on Thursday that Daesh militants had seized the cave and tunnel complexes in Tora Bora from the rival Taliban militant group after days of fighting.

“Those areas around Tora Bora were a Taliban stronghold, but now Daesh militants captured them during fighting,” said the police commander in the area, Shah Wali.

The remote region, in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province, used to be the hideout of notorious Saudi al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in late 2001 before he fled to Pakistan, where he was killed years later.

“After Achin, Daesh was looking for a second stronghold and now they have it,” Wali said, referring to the Achin district, which is located in the same southern Afghan province as Tora Bora.

Meanwhile, the Takfiri group has said it plans to extend the territory under its control in Afghanistan.

“We are in Tora Bora, but this is not the end,” Abu Omar Khorasani, a Daesh commander, said as quoted by media, adding, “The plan is to take more territory from the government and the Taliban.”

The photo shows Takfiri Daesh terrorists and their weapons set on the table as they are presented to the media at the police headquarters in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on May 29, 2017, following their arrest in Nangarhar Province. (By AFP)

Daesh, which is mainly concentrated in Iraq and Syria, has been sustaining heavy losses in battles with national armies and allied forces in those countries in the past months.

The Takifiri group emerged in Afghanistan in early 2015 and has claimed responsibility for some deadly attacks in the country.

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