08 May 2017•Update: 09 May 2017
By Shadi Khan Saif
KABUL, Afghanistan
At least 30 members of the Haqqani network are thought to have been killed in U.S. air strikes in Afghanistan on Monday.
Provincial authorities in southeastern Paktia province bordering Pakistan’s restive tribal belt said hideouts of the Haqqani network in the Dand-e-Pathan district had been targeted.
The Haqqani network is a faction of militants associated with the Taliban. Based in southeastern areas of Afghanistan, it has been responsible for many deadly attacks in the capital, Kabul.
Abdullah Hasrat, spokesman for the provincial government, told Anadolu Agency a cache of arms and ammunition was also destroyed in the raids.
“I can confirm to you that 30 militants of the Haqqani Network were killed, and no civilian was harmed in the American air raids today”, he said.
The U.S. military in Afghanistan was approached for comment but did not respond by the filing of this report.
The Afghan Ministry of Defense confirmed the raid. In a statement, it said 109 insurgents had been killed in nationwide counter terrorism operations during the past 24 hours.
A day earlier, U.S. forces in Afghanistan confirmed the killing of Sheikh Abdul Hasib, the so-called emir of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province (ISIS-K, another name for Daesh) and 35 other militants in a combined Afghan/U.S. raid in Nangarhar on April 27.
“This fight strengthens our resolve to rid Afghanistan of these terrorists and bring peace and stability to this great country. Any ISIS [Daesh] member that comes to Afghanistan will meet the same fate,” said General John Nicholson, Commander U.S. Forces – Afghanistan.
A deadly attack on a hospital in the heart of the Afghan capital Kabul in March remains one of the deadliest attacks orchestrated by Daesh in Afghanistan.
Afghan officials said then that at least five suicide attackers disguised as doctors stormed the Sardar Dawood Khan Hospital, also known as the 400-Bed Hospital, and started indiscriminately shooting at patients, doctors and staff. The attack claimed up to 49 lives.
Afghanistan and the U.S. have vowed to completely eliminate Daesh-K in 2017.
