IS kills Taliban’s local intelligence chief of Bati Kot in Afghanistan

The Islamic State (IS) on Tuesday killed Abid Bashir, the head of the Islamic Emirate Intelligence Agency of Bati Kot district in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.

According to the source, IS terrorists ambushed Bashir on Monday night, while he was patrolling the district area, reported Sputnik.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the source claimed that the local intelligence chief was apparently killed by the IS terrorists due to a major offensive that he had launched earlier against the group in Bati Kot district.

Abid Bashir was one of the key commanders of the Taliban in Nangarhar province, who had twice before escaped after the terrorist ambush, reported Sputnik.

The Taliban-IS standoff has been ongoing in Afghanistan since 2015, when IS began forming terrorist cells in the country and recruiting fighters, compromising the Taliban influence.

Fierce clashes had erupted between the Taliban and the IS in Nangarhar, Logar and Farah provinces, reported Sputnik.

Since the Taliban return to power in Afghanistan in mid-August, the IS have carried out several terrorist attacks across the country, including the blast at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in August that killed more than 180 people, and an attack at a Shiite mosque in Kunduz city in October that resulted in over 150 deaths.

The Taliban have repeatedly expressed their commitment to eliminate the IS faction in Afghanistan and pledged to stop the attacks.