Suspected fighters from the militant Islamic State (IS) group attacked Taliban militants attending a funeral in northern Afghanistan on Tuesday and killed at least 15 in the latest violence between the rival groups, officials said.

Another five Taliban were wounded in the attack on a house in Sayad district in Sari Pul province, the provincial police chief Abdul Qayum Baqizoi told AFP. A Taliban commander was among the dead, Baqizoi added.

The attackers, who were armed with guns and grenades, fled the area.

The Sari Pul governor's spokesman Zabiullah Amani confirmed the death toll.

“Daesh and Taliban have been fighting each other for more than two months in (neighbouring) Jowzjan and Sari Pul, killing hundreds on both sides,” Amani said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.

The Taliban has not commented on the attack. IS did not immediately claim responsibility.

IS first emerged in Afghanistan in 2014, overrunning large parts of the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar near the border with Pakistan, where it engaged in a turf war with the Taliban.

The group has since expanded north and has been battling the Taliban as well as Afghan and US forces.

While the Taliban is Afghanistan's largest militant group, IS has a small but potent presence in the country and has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to carry out devastating attacks in urban areas, including Kabul.

Opinion

Editorial

Defining extremism
Updated 18 Mar, 2024

Defining extremism

Redefining extremism may well be the first step to clamping down on advocacy for Palestine.
Climate in focus
18 Mar, 2024

Climate in focus

IN a welcome order by the Supreme Court, the new government has been tasked with providing a report on actions taken...
Growing rabies concern
18 Mar, 2024

Growing rabies concern

DOG-BITE is an old problem in Pakistan. Amid a surfeit of public health challenges, rabies now seems poised to ...
Provincial share
Updated 17 Mar, 2024

Provincial share

PPP has aptly advised Centre to worry about improving its tax collection rather than eying provinces’ share of tax revenues.
X-communication
17 Mar, 2024

X-communication

IT has now been a month since Pakistani authorities decided that the country must be cut off from one of the...
Stateless humanity
17 Mar, 2024

Stateless humanity

THE endless hostility between India and Pakistan has reduced prisoners to mere statistics. Although the two ...