Off the wire
• Profits of China brokerages shrink in 2016  • Chinese banks lend more to agriculture, small firms  • "Taiwan independence" biggest threat to cross-Strait peace, stability: spokesperson  • Malaysian police reiterate DNA test needed before DPRK man's body release  • Aussie market recovers after a slow start to the day  • PBOC pumps more money into market  • Mainland calls on Taiwan to improve tourism safety  • Feature: Byebye Bao Bao -- U.S.-born giant panda off to China  • China commissions new naval training ship  • Yanbian announces departure of South Korean striker Ha  
You are here: 　 Home

30 IS militants killed in eastern Afghanistan in 24 hours: government

Xinhua, February 22, 2017 Adjust font size:

At least 30 militants of Islamic State (IS) group were killed during fresh clashes and airstrikes in restive eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, local authorities said on Wednesday.

"Over the past 24 hours, 30 Daesh (Arabic acronym for IS) militants were killed as a result of airstrikes and clashes with security forces during an ongoing offensive in Heska Mina and Achin districts," the provincial government said in a statement.

A local IS commander named Hamza was among the killed and five militants were wounded within the same period, the statement added.

The security forces also destroyed a militants' vehicle and a heavy machine gun besides clearing several villages from the militants' presence in the above districts, the statement noted.

On Tuesday evening, three militants were killed after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) they were building in a compound was detonated accidently in neighboring Muhmand Dara district, an army source told Xinhua earlier on the day.

The mountainous province with Jalalabad city as its capital, 120 km east of national capital Kabul, has been the scene of clashes between security forces and IS militants since the emergence of IS there in early 2015.

The militant group has yet to make comments. Enditem