Afghan security officials say that militant group Lashakar-e-Islam (Army of Islam) has been engaged in a fire fight with Islamic State militants in Achin district
KABUL, (Pakistan Point News - 12th Feb, 2018 ) : Afghan security officials say that militant group Lashakar-e-Islam (Army of islam) has been engaged in a fire fight with Islamic State militants in Achin district. A spokesperson for Nangarhar Police Department, Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal said both groups sustained causalities during the fire fight that has dragged on for almost a week. The groups are believed to be fighting for territorial control.
"Six IS militants were killed and another four were wounded. Also, three Lashkar-e-Islam militants were killed and three others were wounded during the firefight," said Mashriqiwal. IS and Lashkar-e-Islam operate in Shirzad, Shinwar, Nazian and Achin districts of eastern Nangarhar province and have footprints in the Tora Bora area. Tora Bora was once a stronghold of slain Al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden. Lashkar-e-Islam has been operating in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area.
The group was reportedly founded by a local cleric, Mufti Munir Shakir, in 2004 in the Bara tribal area of north western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. According to multiple reports, Mangal Bagh, also known as Haji Mangal Bagh Afridi, took charge of the group in 2015 after Munir went into hiding during a tribal dispute over his activities. Reports of Mangal Bagh's death have emerged a couple of times in Pakistani media. But Pakistani officials and political experts dispute the reports and charge that he is still alive. "Lashkar-e-Islam is a militant group that has martyred dozens of Pakistan Army men in different fronts. It is a false claim and propaganda to say that the group is an ISI proxy." Shaukatulla Khan, former governor for northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan told VOA.
