A senior official in the regional branch of the Islamic State jihadist group, accused of orchestrating several recent attacks in Kabul, was killed by the Taliban in the Afghan capital on Sunday, a government official announced.
Qari Fateh, “intelligence and operations chief” of the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) regional branch, was killed by security forces on Sunday evening, Taliban regime spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a press release on Monday evening.
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“He was directly responsible for recent operations in Kabul, including against diplomatic missions, mosques and other targets,” he continued.
Qari Fateh, whose nationality is not clear, was killed along with another member of the EI-K in Kabul's Khair Khana district, the same source said.
Taliban officials posted images on Twitter of two bodies lying in rubble.
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A United Nations Security Council report released in July 2022 confirmed Mr. Fateh's role as one of IS-K's main leaders, responsible for military operations in an area stretching into India, Iran and Central Asia.
IS-K, which has increasingly carried out attacks on foreigners, religious minorities and government institutions, has emerged as the biggest security challenge for the Taliban regime since it came to power in August 2021.
Both groups share a strict Sunni Islamist ideology, but IS-K aims to establish a global “caliphate” while the Taliban wants to rule an independent Afghanistan.
EI-K claimed responsibility for the attack on December 12, 2022 on a hotel in Kabul popular with Beijing businessmen, in which five Chinese nationals were injured.
In the same month, the group also attacked the Pakistani embassy in Kabul.
In January, a suicide attack claimed by EI-K near the Foreign Ministry in Kabul left at least 10 dead and 53 injured. Two Russian Embassy employees were also killed in an ISIS suicide attack in September.
In recent months, Taliban forces have carried out raids on several hideouts of IS-K fighters in Kabul, killing and capturing many of their fighters.
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