Afghan and US SOF pursue ISIS-K in northern Afghanistan

Photo By Staff Sgt. Douglas Ellis | Afghan Special Security Forces operators prepare to enter an ISIS-K compound in Darzab district, Jowzjan province, Afghanistan, Mar. 21, 2018. ASSF and U.S. Special Operators killed four ISIS-K operatives during the nighttime raid. On Mar. 26-27, two additional ISIS-K fighters were eliminated by Afghan and U.S. SOF operators in Darzab. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Doug Ellis)  

AFGHANISTAN

03.27.2018

Story by Capt. Scott Newman 

NATO Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan

Afghan Special Security Forces and U.S. Special Operators killed two ISIS-K fighters during a partnered nighttime raid in the isolated village of Mughul, Darzab district, Jowzjan province, Afghanistan, Mar. 26-27, 2018. This tactical defeat of ISIS-K fighters in Jowzjan is the most recent in a series of Afghan and U.S. SOF counterterrorism successes targeting ISIS-K in northern Afghanistan this year.

On Mar. 22, ASSF and USSOF eliminated four ISIS-K fighters in Darzab district. Six days earlier on Mar. 16, a U.S. airstrike killed ISIS-K platoon commanders, Omair and Abu Samaya, as the duo met in Sar-e Pul province. Later that evening, an ASSF nighttime raid on the ISIS-K headquarters in Jowzjan resulted in the removal of another 13 terrorists. Omair and Abu Samaya’s predecessor Khitab Aka, ISIS-K’s head facilitator of foreign fighters in Jowzjan, was captured by Afghan forces on Jan. 28.

ISIS-K is unable to take root in Afghanistan, relying on exploiting tribal rivalries for short-term allegiance and external support for fighters, equipment and financing.

• Date Taken: 03.27.2018
• Date Posted: 03.27.2018 04:02
• Story ID: 270702
• Location: AF