A senior official of the regional branch of the jihadist group Islamic State, accused of having orchestrated several recent attacks in Kabul, was killed Sunday February 26 in the Afghan capital by the Taliban, announced a government official.
Qari Fateh, "
chief of intelligence and operations
" of the Islamic State of Khorasan (EI-K), regional branch of the EI, was killed Sunday evening by the security forces, indicated this Monday evening the door- spokesman of the Taliban regime, Zabihullah Mujahid, in a press release.
A security challenge for the Taliban
“
He was directly responsible for recent operations in Kabul, including against diplomatic missions, mosques and other targets
,” he continued.
Qari Fateh, whose nationality is unclear, was killed alongside another ISIS member in Kabul's Khair Khana neighborhood, the same source said.
Taliban officials posted images on Twitter of two bodies lying in debris.
A UN Security Council report released in July 2022 confirmed Qari Fateh's role as one of ISIS's top leaders, in charge of military operations in an area spanning India, Iran and Central Asia.
ISIS, which has escalated attacks on foreigners, religious minorities and government institutions, has proven to be the biggest security challenge for the Taliban regime since it came to power in August 2021. Both groups share an austere Sunni Islamist ideology, but ISIS fights for the establishment of a global '
caliphate
', while the Taliban wants to rule an independent Afghanistan.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the December 12, 2022 attack on a Kabul hotel popular with Beijing businessmen, in which five Chinese nationals were injured.
The same month, the group also attacked the Pakistani embassy in Kabul.
In January, a suicide attack near the Foreign Ministry in Kabul, claimed by EI-K, left at least 10 dead and 53 injured.
Two Russian embassy staff were also killed in an IS suicide bombing in September.
Over the past few months, Taliban forces have raided several hideouts of ISIS militants in Kabul, killing and capturing scores of its fighters.