2 IS militants killed, one arrested in Afghan

Two IS militants were killed while another was arrested in Afghanistan’s Nimroz province on Sunday, an official said. “Units of Special Forces stormed a hideout of Khawarej (a reference to IS group) in Sayedabad area of Police District 3 in Zaranj city today morning killing two insurgents and arresting another,” provincial director for Information and Culture Mufti Habibullah Elham confirmed in talks with Xinhua. No security personnel and civilians have been harmed during the operations, the official contended, Xinhua News Agency reported. The security forces also discovered and seized a good quantity of arms and ammunition during the operations that lasted for a while, the official further said. This is the fourth operation launched by Afghan forces against IS hideouts over the past week. Earlier, security forces raided IS hideouts in the northern Mazar-i-Sharif, eastern Charikar and the western Herat cities, killing several IS-affiliated insurgents, according to officials. The Afghan caretaker government, which has downplayed the rival IS outfit as a serious threat, has vowed to smash the armed opponents in the war-torn Asian country.