Small Wars Journal

Afghanistan: ISIS Loses More than Half its Fighters from US Airstrikes and Taliban Ground Operations

Thu, 02/27/2020 - 6:49pm

Afghanistan: ISIS Loses More than Half its Fighters from US Airstrikes and Taliban Ground Operations by Shawn Snow – Military Times

The Islamic State’s Afghanistan branch has lost more than half its fighters due to Afghan and U.S. airstrikes, and ground operations conducted by Taliban fighters, according to a recent inspector general report.

Officials with U.S. Forces Afghanistan said it was hard to estimate the number of remaining ISIS fighters in Afghanistan, but U.S. officials claimed in September the terrorist group was capable of fielding between 2,000 and 5,000 fighters, the IG report detailed.

Afghanistan’s ISIS offshoot lost its home turf in Nangarhar Province in November, forcing 300 of the jihadi fighters to surrender to Afghan forces.

But the terrorist group continues to limp on despite intense military pressure against the group over the last five months…

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