US Drone Strikes Kill Dozens in East Afghanistan

Kabul, 1 Jumaial Awwal 1437/09 February 2016 (MINA) – Nearly 30 people have lost their lives in four US drone strikes on Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar.

Local officials said those killed in the late Monday attacks were members of the Daesh terrorist group, which has gained a foothold in Nangarhar in recent months.

According to a US military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, a radio station operated by the Takfiri group was also destroyed during two air strikes in Achin district.

The terrorists, mainly operating in Iraq and Syria, have reportedly been recruiting militants in Afghanistan over the past months in what is believed to be aimed at establishing sanctuaries in areas traditionally seen as the strongholds of Taliban militants, Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) quoted Press Tv as reporting .

In June 2015, the Taliban warned Daesh ringleader Ibrahim al-Samarrai, also known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, against “waging a parallel insurgency in Afghanistan.” The militant group asked the Daesh leader to keep his men out of Afghanistan.

The rise of Daesh and other militant groups follows more than a decade of a US-led war against militancy in the country.

The US military has carried out numerous drone strikes in several Muslim countries where it claims militants are targeted. On the ground, however, a large number of civilians have fallen victim to the air raids.  (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)