Less than 2,000 IS militants in Afghanistan: army chief

AVA- Few days ago, Russian president’s special envoy for Afghanistan said that according to Moscow’s estimates, the number of IS militants “exceeds 10,000.”

Zamir Kabulov also said that the number of IS militants continues to grow, “particularly due to new fighters arriving from Syria and Iraq.”

General Mohammad Sharif Yaftali, the Afghan chief of army staff, however rejected the claims.

“In all over Afghanistan, we cannot confirm that we have more than 2,000 IS fighters,” Yaftali said. “Their (Russia) claim of 10,000 is totally unacceptable.”

He said that as many as 113 night air raids were conducted against IS over the last one month alone.

According to the Russian envoy, helicopters are transferring IS fighters and delivering “Western [military] equipment” to the group.

Yaftali rejected the claim saying it is Afghan forces aircraft which carry out operations.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak said that Afghanistan will soon have radar system in place to control its airspace.