Security Forces Re-Capture Tora Bora: MoD

AVA_ Acting minister of defense Tariq Shah Bahrami said at a press conference in Kabul Saturday that Afghan Special Forces and security forces recaptured Tora Bora area in Pachir Aw Agam district.

“Afghan commando forces are in control of Tora Bora,” Bahrami said.

Bahrami said that at least 22 Daesh militants were killed and 10 others were wounded in a clearance operation conducted in Pachir Aw Agam and Chaparhar districts of Nangarhar province.

Bahrami said that since beginning of the year Afghan security forces have killed 2,500 Daesh militants including some of their senior commanders in military operations in Nangarhar. In addition 800 others were wounded.

According to him, Daesh militants tried to gain a foothold in Nangarhar border districts but failed and security forces have suppressed them.
“From our point of view there is no serious concern regarding Daesh in Nangarhar province, but yet operations will continue to be conducted to fully eliminate them” Bahrami said.
 
He also said a small group of Daesh was active in Zabul province.
 
This comes three days after Daesh militants clashed with Taliban in Nangarhar province and captured the Tora Bora region.

The security forces are determined to defeat and eradicate Daesh from the area, the Defense Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said on Friday.

Daesh captured the strategic Tora Bora region on Tuesday. The area was used as a hideout by Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, who was killed in a U.S operation in 2011.

“Our security forces are in Pachir Aw Agam district and Daesh will be eliminated in the near future. The military operation against Daesh will continue without any delay,” Waziri said.

Meanwhile, Nangarhar Police Chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said Tora Bora will never turn into a safe haven for Daesh fighters.