Afghan Taliban forces claimed on Tuesday of killing a top Daesh commander who allegedly planned attacks against diplomatic missions in Afghanistan’s capital, a government official said.
Violence in Afghanistan has risen since the Taliban came into power in August 2021.
But in the past year, security has worsened, with a spate of mass casualty attacks claimed by Daesh’s regional chapter.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement on Monday that Taliban forces killed Qari Fateh, the regional Daesh “intelligence and operations chief”, during an operation on Sunday night,
Fateh “directly masterminded recent operations in Kabul, including against diplomatic missions, mosques, and other targets”, Mujahid added.
One other Daesh member was killed in the operation against the cell, which was based in Kabul’s Khair Khana area, according to the statement.
Residents in that neighborhood had reported loud gunfire on Sunday night. Taliban officials posted footage on Twitter of two bodies lying in the debris.
A United Nations Security Council report in July 2022 described Fateh as a key Daesh leader, charged with military operations in an area spanning India, Iran, and Central Asia.
Daesh has emerged as the biggest security challenge to Taliban rule, staging attacks on foreigners, religious minorities, and government institutions.
Daesh claimed responsibility for a December gun raid on a Kabul hotel that wounded five Chinese nationals.
Also in December, the group attacked the Pakistani embassy in Kabul, which the country described as an assassination attempt on the Chargé d’Affaires — Ubaid Ur Rehman Nizamani.
And in January, the group claimed a suicide bombing near the foreign ministry in Kabul that killed at least 10 people.
Two Russian embassy staff members were killed in a suicide bombing outside their mission in September last year, another attack claimed by Daesh.
