KABUL: Taliban fighters raided a hideout of the militant Islamic State (IS) group north of the Afghan capital on Friday, killing and arresting an unspecified number of militants, a Taliban spokesman said.

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August, there has been an increase in attacks by IS militants targeting Taliban members. The Taliban and IS are enemies, and the attacks have raised the specter of a wider conflict between the long-time rivals.

In late August, an IS suicide bomber targeted US evacuation efforts outside Kabul international airport in one of the deadliest attacks in the country in years. The blast killed 169 Afghans and 13 US service members.

Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi told The Associated Press that Friday’s raid took place in the city of Charikar in Parwan province. He did not provide more details and his statement could not be independently verified.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2021