Afghan official says major offensive against IS underway

Following a massive attack in Kabul, the Afghan military has launched a major offensive against the Islamic State group in the country’s far eastern region near the border with Pakistan, Afghan and US officials said Tuesday.

The offensive began over the weekend in Nangarhar province, where IS has had a presence for the past year, said Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for the Defense Ministry.

The Sunni ISIL-K group has targeted members of Afghanistan’s Shiite Hazara minority in the past.

Those casualties – claimed by the self-styled “Islamic State” – were not part of the UN’s latest tally. Some analysts believe the assault is testament to the group’s growing capability in Afghanistan. A suicide bomb against a bunch of frankly defenseless citizens really does gain an very bad lot of attention for them, and it gives the perception of insecurity, but it doesn’t mean they’re stronger.

“They are absolutely a threat”, acknowledged the general.

It was the deadliest attack to hit the Afghan capital since the 2001 US -led invasion.

Civilians are being killed and wounded in record numbers in Afghanistan, a new United Nations report released Monday.

Nevertheless, Saturday’s attack by Islamic State on the Shi’ite minority adds a unsafe complication to the war the Western-backed government in Kabul has been fighting with Taliban insurgents.

The White House and the Pentagon have condemned the Kabul attack.

An Afghan official says a military offensive has been launched against the Islamic State group in the country’s far eastern region.

“The government forces during ground and air operations against IS rebels in Achin district have killed 122 fighters and arrested 20 others over the past 24 hours”, Khogiani told Xinhua.

Earlier this month, Nangarhar province police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashraqiwal said that the militants were able to hide in the region’s rough terrain and reorganize.

The U.S. military spokesman in Kabul, Brig. Gen. Charles H. Cleveland said worldwide cooperation would be needed to tackle Islamic State in Afghanistan.

The next president will have a chance to revalidate or reposition USA engagement there.

The number of civilian deaths in 2016 track closely to the number killed in the first half of 2015, with 1,615 civilian deaths a year ago, but the number of injured civilians reached a record high that includes 1,121 children.

Meetings of the commission are held about four times a year.

Almost one-third (1,509) of the total casualties were linked to children. The larger challenge is to shift the debate about the US commitment to longer-term goals, building on the gradual achievements of state-building rather than the acute threat from the Islamic State and the enduring challenge of the Taliban.