Thursday, November 21, 2019
Kabul (BNA) Addressing a group of religious scholars, influential figures, elders, youth and women in eastern Nangarhar Province, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said Islamic State (IS) fighters have been vanquished in the province, according to a presidential statement.
The president commended the security forces for breaking the back of the terrorist outfit in the province bordering Pakistan. “A year ago, no one could have thought that we will be announcing the defeat of Daesh in Nangarhar,” the president told the gathering in the provincial capital.
Local officials say hundreds of Daesh militants, and their families have laid surrendered to the government forces. President Ghani said the surrendered rebels, mainly Pakistanis, would be reunited with their family members in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“I will not hand them over to the Pakistan government, instead we will turn them over to their relatives,” the president explained, pledging to respect whatever decision was taken by elders on the fate of the former fighters.
Provincial officials estimate more than 600 Daesh insurgents have surrendered with their families to the government in past weeks.
“No one believed a year ago that we would be asserting our win over saying we have obliterated Daesh," Ghani said, amid cheers from the crowd.
The president during his trip in Nangarhar also paid a visit to shrine of Afghan King Amanullah Khan and laid flower wreath on his shrine. The president also held meeting with military officials and praised their works in fight against Daesh and other militants. He also ordered necessary instructions for improvement of the security in the province.
