Gurgoray Valley in Deh Bala District of Afghanistan is about 16km (10 miles) from the Pakistan border. Militants of Islamic State (IS) have made the valley their strong hold. And planned to make it the capital of their Islamic State of Khorasan.
These plans have been crushed this week by the special operations mounted by the US and Afghan troops. “U.S. and Afghan special-operations troops pushed Islamic State fighters out of the district that the militants had aspired to make the capital of their local territory,” the Wall St Journal reported on 22 June (2018) quoting the military.
The Deh Bala offensive “denied and destroyed [Islamic State] staging areas for their operations in southern Nangarhar and disrupted their high-profile attack network that feeds into Kabul,” said a U.S. Special Forces commander.
The combined air and ground attacks killed more than 160 IS militants. No causalities are reported among Afghan or American forces, said WSJ dispatch by its correspondents, Michael M. Phillips, Habib Khan Totakhil and Craig Nelson.
During a three-week offensive that just drew to a close, a pincer movement by Afghan commandos and U.S. Special Forces trapped hundreds of Islamic State militants in Gurgoray Valley, added the dispatch with Washington and Kabul dateline.
As many as 1,750 people were displaced by the fighting; they have been sheltered temporarily in schools and tents, according to Nuha Al-Saeedi, emergency response coordinator for the Norwegian Refugee Council.
“Life is getting back to normal,” said one Afghan soldier who participated in the battle. “Those who fled the fighting are slowly returning to their houses.”
Local officials are overjoyed at the operation’s success, but are keeping their fingers crossed. Their worry is that militants might stage a return since the Special Force Commandos left Deh Bala and returned to their bases elsewhere in the country.
The district government doesn’t have the capacity with just 100 police at its disposal to take on the IS militants, according to Rezwanullah Basharmal, a local top official.
He has asked Kabul for 300 more to secure the gains made the latest operation.
Reports say that IS militants are struggling to keep a toe-hold in Nangarhar Province, in eastern Afghanistan, where in 2014 they had set up the local branch of the caliphate they had declared in Iraq and Syria. Along the Pakistan border, U.S. and Afghan troops have chased Islamic State into the Spingar Mountains, but the group continues to control some valleys and conduct high-profile suicide attacks in Kabul and elsewhere.
This year’s Eid was marked by a three-day ceasefire. President Ghani made the offer amidst expectations that the Taliban would not only reciprocate but also facilitate its extension for a longer period to set the stage for a dialogue. The hope was short lived though reports said around 35,000 Taliban fighters visited Kabul and other cities and met with their families, and friends.
But members of the Helmand Peace Convoy have not given up their quest. They are in the 17-65 age group. They have walked almost 700 km to Kabul in protest against the war. And have resolved to stay in Kabul “until peace has been restored to the country”.
The Peace Convoy has issued a list of demands to the Taliban and are waiting for the group’s response.
If Taliban does not accept their demands and fail to announce a ceasefire?
Well, in such a scenario, the Peace Convoy members will go to the homes of the Taliban and appeal to them to stop the violence. “If the Taliban does not accept our demands and fails to announce a ceasefire, we will go to the homes of the Taliban and appeal to them to stop the violence, ToloNews quoted Peace Convoy members as saying.
Helmand peace convoy members started their protest over two months ago after an explosion outside a stadium in Lashkargah. They first embarked on a sit-in protest and then eight of them started the long walk to Kabul.
As they marched through towns and villages, more and more people joined them. By the time they reached Kabul health officials told TOLOnews there were at least 70 in total – however activists say there could be over 100.
—yamaaraar