U.S., Afghan Special Operations Target ISIS Foreign Fighters In Northwest Afghanistan
U.S., Afghan Special Operations Target ISIS Foreign Fighters In Northwest Afghanistan by Chad Garland – Stars & Stripes
About one in 10 Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan are foreign fighters, the top U.S. general in the country said Thursday, in a statement touting recent U.S. and Afghan operations targeting the group.
Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, has now spread from eastern Afghanistan to the country’s northwest, where fighters were believed to be receiving foreign fighters and weapons. Most of its foreign fighters are from within the region.
The foreign IS-K fighters “are primarily Pakistani Pashtun,” said Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, in a statement. “They have another segment of Islamic Movement Uzbekistan. And then there’s probably ten percent that’s from a variety of sources around the world.”
Military officials estimated the group had about 1,100 fighters throughout the country as of November. Military officials declined to provide a new estimate Thursday…