Up to 14 militants affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) outfit have been killed in Afghanistans eastern Nangarhar province and 20 others have given up fighting and handed over their weapons to police in the northern Jawzjan province over the past 24 hours, officials said Friday. Afghan forces have stepped up operations against IS militants hideouts as government forces from ground and air targeted the hardliner groups positions in the eastern Nangarhar province since Thursday, killing over a dozen fighters, spokesman for provincial government Attaullah Khogiani said. According to Khogiani, 14 fighters of IS group have been killed in Haska Mina, Ghani Khil, Nazian and Achin districts over the past 24 hours. During the operations which also involved aircrafts, several more IS fighters have been injured, the official added. Confirming the operations, the National Army Corps in the eastern region, in a statement released Friday, said that a weapon cache of IS outfit had also been destroyed during the ongoing operations. IS outfit has yet to make comment on the report. Similarly, the ongoing crackdown on IS militants and fighting with the rival Taliban group in the northern Jawzjan province has forced 20 fighters to give up fighting and surrender to local authorities. According to Mohammad Reza Ghafori, spokesman for Jawzjan provincial government, a 20-member group of IS militants under Mohammad Tahir have given up fighting and handed over their weapons to police in Darzab district over the past 24 hours. Darzab district has been the scene of fierce fighting between IS and Taliban group over the past two weeks, which has left some 300 fighters dead from both sides, officials said. The government forces, according to Afghan officials, would continue to fight IS militants elsewhere in the militancy-plagued Afghanistan.
