IS MILITANTS ABDUCT AND KILL 30 PEOPLE IN AFGHANISTAN

KABUL Militants linked to the Islamic State group killed around 30 civilians, including children in the central Afghan province of Ghor, the local government said on Wednesday.

The incident occurred late yes terday north of the provincial capital Firoz Koh, with the gov ernment calling it a revenge attack after a local IS commander was killed.

“Our security forces with the help of locals conducted an opera tion and killed a Daesh (IS) com mander yesterday. Daesh fight ers in return abducted around 30 villagers, mostly shepherds,” Ghor Governor Nasir Khazeh told AFP.

“Their dead bodies were found by local people this morning.”

There has so far been no offi cial claim of responsibility from the group.

The killings underscore unravelling security in Afghani stan as the resurgent Taliban continue a push into urban cen tres 15 years after they were top pled from power by the US inva sion.

IS fighters are also making steady inroads into Afghanistan winning over sympathisers recruiting followers and chal lenging the Taliban on their own turf, primarily in the country’s east.

In March Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced that the Islamists had been defeated after local security forces claimed vic tory in a months-long operation against the group. But IS militant have continued to launch deadly strikes in the country. In July, IS jihadists claimed responsibility for twin explosions that ripped through crowds of Shiite Hazaras in Kabul, killing at least 80 people