IS beheads three brothers in Afghanistan

JALALABAD:

Militants from the Islamic State (IS) group beheaded three brothers, all working in the medical profession, in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar, an official said.

Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar, the main stronghold of IS in Afghanistan, said the brothers were killed in Chaparhar district on Saturday night.

The eldest brother, Nisar Tareliwal, 27, was a doctor at a private clinic, while the middle brother Nayeem, 24, was working as a vaccine campaigner.

The youngest brother, Abdul Wahab, 19, was a medical student.

Khogyani said the father of the victims was a doctor who was also beheaded last year by IS.

The extremist group has acquired a reputation for brutality in the province, beheading prisoners on a number of occasions.

In a separate incident, IS members kidnapped 11 farmers in the Rodat district of Nangarhar province, although they later released two of them.

There was no claim by IS about the two incidents.

Nangarhar, which lies on the porous border with Pakistan, has become a stronghold for IS, generally known as Daesh in Afghanistan.

It has grown to become one of the country’s most dangerous militant groups since it appeared around the start of 2015.

Lal Mohammed Durrani, deputy chairman of the provincial council in Nangarhar, said the abduction took place when the farmers were working in poppy fields.

The process to harvest poppy crop has kicked off in provinces across Afghanistan, the world’s top opium producer.

Last year, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said output of opium made from poppy seeds in Afghanistan, the world’s main source of heroin, stood at around 9,000 metric tonnes.

The illicit drug has fuelled insecurity, violence and insurgency in Afghanistan for several decades. — Reuters