US-airstrikes-destroy-Islamic-State-radio-station-in-Afghanistan. JALALABAD, Afghanistan, U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province destroyed an Isis radio station and killed more than 20 militants, officials said Tuesday.
The strikes occurred Monday in the Achin district, destroying the “Voice of the Caliphate” radio station and killing 29 IS members, including five who worked at the station, Attaullah Khogyani, a provincial spokesman, told Voice of America.
The BBC reported the strikes, four in total, originated from drone aircraft.
Residents and officials in the Nangarhar province said the IS broadcasts — which had for the past three months been airing daily two-hour programs filled with anti-government propaganda and recruitment advertisements in Pashto, Dari and Arabic — were silenced following the airstrikes.
Col. Michael Lawhorn, a U.S. military spokesman, confirmed airstrikes had been launched in the Achin district but could not provide details for security reasons.
IS radio reportedly said on Twitter it “strongly rejects the reports of the puppet regime of Kabul that the radio has been destroyed.”
IS — which holds territory in Iraq and Syria and commands the loyalty of several affiliates in Africa and Asia — announced a branch in Afghanistan in January 2015, headquartering in the Achin district.
The group has since clashed with Afghan security forces and rival Taliban militants.
In November, Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry reported security forces killed a small group of IS fighters in the Achin district, where hundreds of the militants were reported to have assaulted police checkpoints in September.
After seizing eastern parts of the country from the Taliban, IS abducted and executed hundreds of people, including seven detainees who were beheaded in the Zabul province on Nov. 7. Local residents reportedly said the Taliban seemed “almost tame” in comparison.
By Fred Lambert
UPI NEWS
