Afghan forces in a joint operation arrested three "key" Daesh leaders in Kabul, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) said on Monday.
Zia-Ul-Haq, known as Abu Omar Khorasani, the Daesh leader for south and east areas of Asia was arrested along with Saheeb, head of public relations, and Abu Ali, the group’s intelligence head. Police and NDS special forces apprehended the men in the Kart-e-Naw area in PD8 of Kabul city, according to the NDS’s statement.
The operation to arrest these Daesh leaders was launched after the four other Daesh senior members confessed while in the custody of the NDS, the statement said.
According to the NDS, Abu Omar Khorasani is a citizen of Afghanistan and he was arrested in Kabul.
Five days ago the special unit of the NDS raided “terrorist hideouts” in three operations– two in Kabul’s PD11 and another in Shakar Dara district, 25 kilometers north of the capital city.
According to the NDS statement, five insurgents were killed in the operations and eight others were wounded.
According to the NDS, the group was comprised of Daesh and Haqqani network members and led by Sanatullah, a Daesh commander, and was involved in the rocket attack on President Ghani’s inauguration ceremony, the attack on the Sikh temple in Kabul, the attack on Afghan politicians gathering in the west of Kabul, and another two rocket attacks on Kabul, the NDS said.
The NDS added that the group was also involved in targeted killings in Kabul.
A large number of explosives and weapons were confiscated, according to the NDS statement.
Security force members also sustained casualties in the operation: two were killed and six others were wounded, according to security sources.
In April, Asalam Farooqi, a key member of Daesh’s Khorasan branch, and 19 of his associates were arrested in the southern province of Kandahar, said the NDS.
“Abdullah Orakzai, who is known as Aslam Farooqi, the leader of the Khorasan branch of the Daesh terrorist group, and his 19 associates, including Qari Zahid and Saifullah, known as Abu Talaha, were arrested during...complex operation by the special units of the National Directorate of Security,” the NDS said.
According to the statement, Farooqi is a native of Orakzai agency, which is located in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
Farooq was operating as the commander of Daesh’s military wing in Pakistan’s Peshawar city and was deployed in Abdul Khel valley of Achin district of the eastern province of Nangarhar, said the statement.
The NDS also stated that after the killing of Abu Saeed Bajawri, Farooqi was appointed as Daesh’s shadow governor in Afghanistan.
Farooqi was "enjoying close relations" with the other terrorist groups such as the "Haqqani network" and "Lashkar-e-Taiba,” said the statement.