Afghan security forces kill, arrest ISIS-K members in multiple operations

KABUL – Afghan security forces killed two members of the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" Khorasan Branch (ISIS-K) and arrested several others in a series of operations across several provinces last month.

Security forces carried out the operations in Kabul, Nangarhar and Faryab provinces, Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Kabul administration, said September 30 on X.

They arrested "key members" of ISIS-K responsible for recent attacks, including the suicide bombing on the current authorities' prosecution service September 2 in Kabul, other attacks in Kabul and an attack on foreign tourists in Bamiyan province, he said.

"During these operations, a Tajik national was arrested at the hideout of the mastermind behind the attack," Mujahid said. "This individual was planning to carry out a suicide bombing."

Security forces also seized an explosives vest, two firearms and ammunition, he said.

"Subsequent operations in Kabul and Faryab resulted in the neutralization of two insurgents, while several others were taken into custody," Mujahid said.

More than 700 Afghan Shia have been killed or wounded in ISIS-K attacks since August 2021, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported September 13.

Demands for justice

The presence of ISIS-K in Afghanistan is undeniable, said Abdul Wakil Rasa, 41, a civil society activist from Kabul.

Rasa criticized the lack of punishment for ISIS-K members who have been previously captured.

"We often hear that ISIS-K members are identified and arrested in various parts of the country, but why isn't justice being applied to them to serve as a lesson to others?" he said.

"ISIS-K is not only the enemy of Shia Muslims but the enemy of all the people of Afghanistan," he told Salaam Times. "If laws are enforced against them, others will not dare to join this group."

Those who commit atrocities against the public must be held accountable, said Abdul Hafiz Saqib, an Afghan political analyst based in Ankara, Türkiye.

"Unfortunately, the fate of those affiliated with ISIS-K and other international terrorist groups who have been arrested in the past remains a mystery," he said. "People don't know what happened to those individuals or why they have not been punished yet."

"The people of Afghanistan expect these criminal groups, who have left thousands of families grieving for their loved ones, to be severely punished," he told Salaam Times. "Otherwise, such arrests are nothing more than deceiving the public."

"Fighting Daesh in Afghanistan requires a strong military force to attack its hideouts," he said, using another name for ISIS. "Stopping the group's bloody attacks is very difficult unless you destroy its safe havens in the country."