The Police Chief of the Kandahar Province Abdul Ghafar Mohammadi noted that the operation against ISIS-K, an Afghan group affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, began around midnight in at least four districts.

Since the Taliban movement came to power three months ago, ISIS-K organized terrorist acts in Jalalabad, Kunduz, Kandahar, and Kabul.

Last month the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Kandahar that killed at least 60 people and injured dozens more.

The attack came a week after another explosion at a mosque in the northern province of Kunduz killed more than 60 people, an action also claimed by ISIS-K.

The faction claimed responsibility for a bombing on Sunday, which destroyed a minibus in the capital and killed a well-known local journalist and up to two other people.

Earlier this month, ISIS-K fighters raided the city’s National Military hospital and killed at least 19 people.

pgh/llp/mgt/lp