Afghan Taliban say killed 12 ISKP leaders in 2023

The intelligence agency of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), since the beginning of this year, has eliminated 12 top Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) leaders in Afghanistan in their war against the terrorist group.

The General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) launched an operation earlier this year to eradicate the ISKP, a militant group. In February, the Afghan Taliban administration’s special forces killed ISKP’s intelligence and military chief, commonly known as Kotar in Kabul, while arresting another high-ranking leader of the terrorist group in a separate operation.

According to the details shared by IEA, the GDI has so far neutralised the leader of Islamic State Hind Province (ISHP), the Justice and Media head of ISKP, an ISKP leadership council member, the ISKP’s head of operations for Kabul city, the ISKP’s head of military for Herat province, the ISKP head of guerilla operations for Kabul province, the deputy of the current ISKP leader and ISKP head for Central Zone, the ISKP’s governor for Laghman province, ISKP’s head for Nimroz province as well as the ISKP head for migration department.

Read ‘ISKP second-in-command eliminated in Afghanistan’

The operation by the Afghan Taliban commenced during Pakistan and Afghanistan’s negotiations regarding the tackling of the threats posed by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) after a high-level delegation led by the country’s former defence minister, Khawaja Asif visited Kabul on February 2023.

The visit had come after terrorist attacks in Peshawar Police Lines and Karachi Police Office earlier this year compelled Pakistani authorities to reach out to the Afghan Taliban.

During their meeting, the officials from the Afghan Taliban administration had shared details of the ongoing operations against certain militant groups.

The information shared by the IEA today includes the details of the ISKP terrorists killed by the GDI:

• Ijaz Amin Ahangar aka Abu Usman al-Kashmiri, originally from the Srinagar district of Kashmir, was the leader of Islamic State Hind Province (ISHP)/Daesh India. He was killed on February 13, 2023, in the Kart-e-Naw area of Police District 8 (PD8), Kabul City, in an overnight operation conducted by the GDI.
• Kotar aka Qari Musa/Qari Fateh/Abbas Omari originally from Dago village of the Chaparhar district of Nangarhar province, was the Military and Intelligence head of Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP)/Daesh Afghanistan. He was killed on February 26, 2023, in the Khairkhana area of PD17, Kabul city in an overnight operation.
• Ziauddin Hakeem Syed aka Mohammad/Abu Saad originally from the Nangalam village of Pech Valley of the Manogay district, Kunar province, was the Justice and Media head of ISKP and was also the ex-interim leader of ISKP. He was killed on March 17, 2023, in Mazar-e-Sharif city of Balkh province, in an overnight operation.
• Abu Omar Afridi, originally from the Khyber district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, was an ISKP leadership council member. He was killed on March 17, 2023, in Mazar-e-Sharif city of Balkh province, in an overnight operation.
• Asad Laghmani aka Qais originally from Laghman province, was the ISKP head of operations for Kabul city. He was killed on March 21, 2023, in Batkhak village near PD12, Kabul City, in an overnight operation.
• Doctor Hussain, originally from Herat province, was an ISKP leadership council member and ISKP head of military for Herat province. He was killed on April 5, 2023, in the Mashwanian area of PD9, Herat City, the capital of Herat province, in an overnight operation.
• Omar Burhan, originally from the Kohat district of Kohat division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, was the ISKP head of guerilla operations for Kabul province. He was killed on April 12, 2023, at Batkhak intersection in the Bagrami District, Kabul in an overnight operation.
• Engineer Omar aka Haider, Fareedon and Sikandar, originally from the Bagrami district of Kabul province, was the Deputy of the current ISKP leader and ISKP head for Central Zone. He was killed on May 5, 2023, in Shamshad street, near the Batkhak intersection, Bagrami District, in an overnight operation.
• Turab Khan, originally from Kandigal village, Alingar District of Laghman province, was the ISKP Governor for Laghman province. He was killed on May 31, 2023, in Khewa district, Nangarhar province, in an overnight operation.
• Najib, originally from Kunduz province, was the ISKP head for Nimroz province, He was killed on July 15, 2023, in Mirwais township, Bagrami District, Kabul province, in an overnight operation.
• Anas, originally from Uzbekistan, was in charge of orchestrating ISKP operations in Kabul city. He was killed on July 15, 2023, in Mirwais township, Bagrami District, Kabul province, in an overnight operation.
• Abdullah, originally from Kabul province, was the ISKP head of the migration department. Although there is no information on the exact date and location of his killing, based on the number of operations conducted by the GDI, he was most likely killed in the first half of this year.