ISIS makes inroads in Afghanistan

Ex-Taliban groups ally with Islamic State in northern districts

KABUL, Afghanistan — Two Taliban groups that recently switched allegiance to the Islamic State have overrun an embattled district in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 10 government fighters and a large number of civilians, according to Afghan officials in the area.

In addition, government officials accuse the Islamic State fighters of being responsible for the deaths of 15 medical patients, but it was not immediately clear if they had died from their wounds or if they had been executed by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

The events represent a new front for the extremist group, which is opposed by the Taliban as well as by the government and has not previously had significant successes in northern Afghanistan.

The attack took place in the district of Darzab, in the southwest of Jowzjan province, a remote area that has long seesawed between government and Taliban control, with local warlords switching allegiances frequently. Fighters loyal to the country’s exiled vice president and warlord, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, have also played a role.

Last week, Islamic State fighters overran all of Darzab, according to the acting district governor, Baz Mohammad Dawar. Government officials were able to regain control of the district’s center, but not most of the rest of the territory; 10 police officers or soldiers were killed in the fight, he said.

With the district’s clinic under Islamic State control, 15 patients were evacuated to the capital of Jowzjan province, Sheberghan, but they died en route, Afghan officials said.

Mohammad Reza Ghafori, the spokesman for the provincial governor, said that Islamic State fighters had destroyed the 50-bed clinic, forcing the patients to flee.

Dawar said he thought the patients had died of their injuries on the rugged journey because of a lack of medical staff members in the area. Other officials said it seemed likely that the fighters had killed them.

In the village of Betaw in Darzab, Islamic State militants killed seven local police officers and 15 civilians, according to a local elder, and threatened to kill anyone who held funeral ceremonies for them. Some held them anyway.

“There is no Taliban in Darzab now, but only ISIS,” said Halima Sadaf, a member of the Jowzjan Provincial Council, who is from Darzab.

They took over the district before Eid al-Fitr,” she said, referring to the holiday signifying the end of Ramadan that began on Sunday.

“But Afghan national security forces pushed them out of the capital of the district; the rest of the district is all with them,” she added. “They are strong and regrouping to launch another offensive.”