In the city of Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province, eight ISIS* fighters were killed in a clash. The Taliban* have repeatedly stated that there is no ISIS in Afghanistan.
Source: Sputnik Tajikistan
A Sputnik Tajikistan source, citing the special services of the Takhar province, said that in June 11, Taliban intelligence reported that a group intending to carry out a terrorist attack had entered the city of Taloqan.
“At the beginning, one of these people, who is a foreign citizen, was detained in the center of the city of Taloqan and information was obtained from him about the whereabouts of his accomplices,” the source said.
He added that, according to the detainee, 14 other people who are members of ISIS were hiding in the area known as the East Project, on Kalfaganiha Street of Taloqan city, armed with light and heavy weapons and planning to attack the Taliban base.
“When their whereabouts were established, the Takhar garrison and Taliban security forces in the city of Taloqan surrounded and attacked the house where ISIS fighters had taken refuge,” the source said.
According to him, the clash lasted about three hours, as a result, 8 ISIS fighters and 6 civilians were killed, but the Taliban did not report losses on their part (according to information received by Sangar, three Taliban were seriously injured in this clash).
“Among the civilians killed were four drivers, one hairdresser, one car mechanic. In total, three ISIS fighters were arrested, two of them fled,” he said.
According to the source, all ISIS fighters are foreigners, most of them are citizens of Central Asian countries, and the house in which they took refuge belonged to a local Uzbek.
“From the detainees it became known that the commander of this group was a citizen of Uzbekistan, Yunus Uzbekistani, one of those killed. But the source did not want to reveal the identities of other detained and killed ISIS fighters. The Taliban always hide such information,” the source said.
Meanwhile, at the time of the incident, the media reported on an inter-ethnic clash - between the regional department of national security, headed by a Pashtun, and the police, headed by an Uzbek.
Later, Ansarullah Ansar, head of the information and culture department of Takhar province, told local media that a military operation was being carried out against ISIS militants. But then he called on the media not to mention ISIS at all, since the Taliban have always denied the presence of this terrorist group in Afghanistan.
* The organization is under UN sanctions or banned due to terrorist activities.