ISIS has killed a number of Afghan tribal elders and wounded several more in Nangarhar Province’s main city of Jalalabad today, with a suicide bomber from the group targeting a meeting of the council of elders in the city.
The details are still scant, but ISIS claims that the council was established in part to discuss the formation of a tribal anti-ISIS coalition in the area. They claimed 15 killed and 25 wounded, labeling the victims “apostates.”
Afghan government officials put the toll a lot lower, saying only four were killed and seven wounded in the attack. Nangarhar is the main base of operations for ISIS forces in Afghanistan, though they’ve recently begun to pop up around several other provinces.
Whether the council was at the point of establishing an anti-ISIS coalition or not, this is in keeping with the group’s reaction to any sign of growing local resistance, with ISIS having similarly made an example of tribal groups in Iraq and Syria during their establishment there.
How do we know that “ISIS” is guilty of these killings? 8/24 Bette Dam interview says warring factions will tell the Americans “ISIS” did it to get more American swag.