Official: Afghan Special Forces Kill 2 IS Fighters in Raid

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghanistan's special forces killed two Islamic State fighters and arrested a third during an operation in the country's west on Sunday, a regional official said.

The raid on the hideout in the district of Sayed Abad in Nimroz province sparked a clash lasting 30 minutes, said Mufti Habibullah Ilham, the province's information and culture director.

Ilham said there were no casualties among the troops or civilians and that some military equipment was seized.

The regional affiliate of the IS group -- known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province -- has been the key rival of the ruling Taliban since the religious group's takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.

IS has increased its attacks in Afghanistan, targeting both Taliban patrols and members of Afghanistan's Shiite minority. On Friday, security forces killed an IS fighter during an operation in northern Parwan province. They also arrested three women and seven children, said Hikmatullah Shamim, a spokesman for the Parwan governor.

Deputy Afghan government spokesman Bilal Karimi said authorities were serious about Afghanistan's boundaries and sovereignty.

"The Islamic State has no place in the country or among the people, nor does the Islamic emirate allow it," he told The Associated Press. "The number of (IS) fighters killed or arrested so far is in the hundreds, but there is no exact number."

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a number of high-profile attacks in Afghanistan. It said one of its members was behind a deadly bombing near a checkpoint in January at Kabul's military airport, the same man who took part in an assault on a hotel in the capital last December, and a gun attack on the Pakistani embassy.