Small Wars Journal

Leader of ISIS in Afghanistan Arrested, Security Officials Say

Sat, 04/04/2020 - 8:46pm

Leader of ISIS in Afghanistan Arrested, Security Officials Say by Phillip Walter Wellman - Stars & Stripes

The head of the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate has been arrested along with 19 other militants, Afghan officials said Saturday.

Abdullah Orakzai, who goes by Aslam Farooqi, was detained by forces from the National Directorate of Security, the country’s main intelligence agency said in a statement.

It was unclear where the arrests took place. Farooqi and the others were detained on Friday, NDS spokesman Haris Jebran told Stars and Stripes. Jebran declined to provide further details.

U.S. airstrikes and raids have targeted the terrorist group’s regional affiliate, known as ISIS-Khorasan Province, since 2016. ISIS had declared the group’s formation early the previous year…

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