The Afghan security forces carried out a massive security operation and announced that they have captured the leader of Islamic State of the Khorasan Province (ISKP) along with 19 other fighters, reports Al-Jazeera.
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Two high-ranking commanders were among those apprehended by the security forces besides to the leader of the Islamic State of the Khorasan Province (ISKP), Abdullah Orokzai, also known as Aslam Farooqi, a statement by the Afghan intelligence agency National Directorate of Security (NDS) said on Saturday, reported Al-Jazeera.
According to reports in Indian Media – HindustanTimes, the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) uncovered Farooqui’s direct links of Islamic State of the Khorasan Province with Pakistan’s notorious spy agency – ISI. Farooqi had been active in several roles within the ISKP, both in Pakistan and in Afghanistan, the statement read, adding that he took over as the leader after the death of Abu Saeed Bajawori in 2018.
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The arrest comes after the ISKP claimed responsibility for the attack on a Sikh Gurdwara in Kabul where 27 people were killed. As per experts, the foremost target of ISKP was the Indian Embassy in Kabul as terror groups wanted to derail India-Afghan ties and eliminate any Indian presence in the country.
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“The ISKP is just a brainchild of Pakistan’s ISI, which is developed to hit at targets for larger tactical purposes of Pakistan. Among those captured include terrorists from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Nangarhar, Quetta, Pakistan-controlled-Kashmir, Karachi and Kunar Province of Afghanistan. This is the most important feat of Afghan security forces till date,” HT quoted a senior counter-terror official.
Farooqi belongs to the Mamozai tribe and belongs from the Orakzai agency area on the Pak-Afghan border. His links with LeT and Haqqani network have also been revealed in the NDS official statement.
