21st February, 2018
Officials on Wednesday discovered bodies of at least 10 people, who are supposed to have been hostages of the Islamic State terrorist group, in a mass grave in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province.
According to the TOLOnews media outlet, citing local officials, the grave was discovered in Momand Dara area of Achin district, which is known as an IS stronghold.
The district residents believed that the victims had been held hostages for over a year and subsequently killed by IS terrorists.
Nangarhar provincial governor’s media office reportedly confirmed the version, saying that the victims had been abducted from Pachiragam district by IS militants and later moved to Achin district.
The tragic discovery comes after another nine bodies were found in Kot district of the same province on Monday, the media outlet added.
According to the TOLOnews, the district has recently faced a series of abductions, with 14 teachers and ministry of education staff being kidnapped by IS terrorists in two separate incidents in 2017.
Following the incidents, residents of the province have accused the government of insufficient efforts to rescue the hostages, with local officials dismissing the claims and insisting that security forces had repeatedly sought to free the abductees, the outlet reported.
Afghanistan has long been suffering from an unstable political, social and security situation due to the activity of the Taliban movement and the IS terrorist group.
The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces regularly conduct joint operations to combat terrorism across the country.