Afghan soldiers recapture village where extremists massacred 50 people

Afghan troops are expected to start searching for mass graves in the village

Afghan troops recaptured a remote village where Taliban and ISIL fighters massacred dozens of civilians this month.

Militants killed about 50 men, women and children in Mirzawalang, a mainly Shiite village in the northern Sar-e Pul province, on August 5 after defeating a government-backed militia.

A spokesman for the Afghan army’s northern corps said troops had retaken the village after days of intense fighting in which at least 50 insurgents were killed.

“Our forces are in full control of the village and are searching for Taliban mines and booby traps,” Nasratullah Jamshidi said.

Dawlat Waziri, a spokesman for the Afghan defence ministry, said troops pushed the Taliban out of the village on Monday afternoon.

There has been no word on casualties to Afghan forces.

Troops are expected to start searching for mass graves after claims from families that about 50 villagers, mostly Shiite and Hazara, were shot or beheaded after the Taliban and ISIL militants raided in a rare collaboration.

ISIL claimed responsibility for killing 54 Shiites in Sar-e Pul. The Taliban had earlier claimed capturing the village, but said it did so alone, and denied killing civilians.

Survivors fleeing the violence told of how militants went from house to house shooting villagers. The insurgents took civilians captive, but later released 235 hostages in a deal struck by elders and provincial officials.

Taliban and ISIL fighters have regularly clashed since 2015, but security sources say they have teamed up against Afghan forces on a few occasions.

ISIL has carried out deadly attacks on Shiites in the past year, bringing a sectarian slant to the Afghan conflict.

This month, two suicide bombers killed more than 33 worshippers at a mosque in Afghanistan’s western city of Herat, in an attack claimed by the group.

A resurgent Taliban, whose ranks are made up primarily of Sunni ethnic Pashtuns, are at the height of their summer fighting season.