MAZAR-I SHARIF (Dispatches) – More than 150 Daesh terrorists surrendered to Afghan security forces in the northwestern province of Jawzjan after they were defeated and driven out by the Taliban, Taliban and government officials said on Wednesday.
The defeat represents a major setback for the group, which first appeared in eastern Afghanistan around four years ago and which had gained a foothold in southern Jawzjan, where it fought for control of smuggling routes into neighboring Turkmenistan.
"The evil phenomenon of Daesh has completely been eliminated and people have been freed from its tortures in Jawzjan province of Afghanistan,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement, using an Arabic term for the group.
The Taliban launched an offensive several weeks ago in Jawzjan against the group, which they oppose as much as they do the Western-backed government in Kabul and which has established an unmatched reputation for brutality.
In another development, an employee of the United Nations’ migration agency was among at least 15 people killed in an attack in Afghanistan’s eastern city of Jalalabad, the UN said on Wednesday.
Tuesday’s assault on the department of refugee and returnee affairs was the latest in a series of attacks in recent months that have killed and wounded dozens of people.
The 22 year-old employee of the International Organization for Migration who was killed had lost her husband to a bomb in Kabul three years ago and left a six-year-old orphan, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said.
"She was one of thousands of Afghans who form the backbone of the daily work of the United Nations in the country,” it said in a statement.
A staffer of the International Rescue Committee humanitarian group was also killed.
Government officials said at least 15 people were killed in the attack during an emergency meeting to discuss humanitarian needs, but the toll could rise as investigators sift the rubble.
The final figure could exceed 20, said Sohrab Qaderi, a member of the local provincial council, going by his contacts with families who were missing relatives who had been present during the attack.
Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN’s official in Afghanistan, condemned the "abhorrent” targeting of civilians, and the UN called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.