ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s Taliban said their security forces killed two key Islamic State commanders in an overnight counterterrorism raid against their hideout in the capital, Kabul.

The announcement came hours before the United States said in a new report that up to 3,000 IS fighters were operating in the South Asian nation and conducting terrorist activities.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a late-night statement that “the intelligence and operations chief of Daesh” in Afghanistan was also among those killed in the operation late Sunday. He identified the slain terror leader as Qari Fateh.

Daesh, or Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), is an Afghan affiliate of Islamic State and a key Taliban adversary.

Mujahid said Fateh had masterminded recent attacks against diplomatic missions, mosques and other targets in Kabul.

“The criminal was served justice last night for his brutal actions at the hands of IEA [Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan] special forces during a complex operation in the Kher Khana residential area [in Kabul],” he noted, using the official title for the Taliban government.

IS-K did not immediately comment on the Taliban’s claims of killing its top leader.

Mujahid also confirmed in his statement Monday that a Taliban counterterrorism operation earlier this month had killed the IS-K chief for the Indian subcontinent, Ijaz Amin Ahangar, along with his two commanders. He added, without elaborating, that “a number of Daesh members, including foreigners” were also detained in recent days.

(VOA)