For the first time, local officials in Badakhshan announced a joint offensive by the Taliban, Al Qaeda and IS in the province’s Arghanjkha district on Sunday evening.
“Last night, the Taliban group, with the direct support of foreign terrorists, attacked a security checkpoint in Arghanjkha district,” the Badakhshan governor’s office statement on Monday said.
Seven Afghan Local Police were killed in the attack, and two others were injured.
The governor’s office said that the attack was repulsed by security forces and according to initial reports, five fighters from the groups had been killed and several others wounded.
Although there have been previous reports of joint Taliban and Al Qaeda attacks in Badakhshan, this is the first time a joint Taliban, Al Qaeda and IS attack has been reported in the province.
The Taliban has maintained that they have cut ties with foreign terrorist groups, specifically the Al Qaeda.
According to the agreement signed between the U.S. and the Taliban, they pledged to severe ties with terrorist groups who could potentially use Afghanistan as their home ground for launching attacks against the West.
Late last week, an Uzbek jihadist group, the Katibat Imam al-Bukhari (KIB) also shared images of a joint operation with the Taliban, which the latter said was an archival image and called it “propaganda” by “anti-peace circles.”
The UN Security Council monitoring report and the Afghan government have maintained that the Taliban’s ties with foreign groups exist to date.
The National Directorate of Security (NDS) recently announced in a press release the destruction of a joint IS and Haqqani network terrorist centre in Kabul.
