US Airstrikes Kill 46, Destroy ISIS Radio Station in Afghanistan

Slain Include Five Radio Workers, Five IT Techs

An ISIS radio station has been fueling concern among Afghans in the nation’s southeast that the region is soon to fall to the fledgling ISIS affiliate. Reports today suggest the station was destroyed overnight in US airstrikes.

Official statements presented the attacks as “counter-terrorism operations” in the region, and the 46 people killed in the assorted airstrikes were all labeled “ISIS militants,” even though  the slain included at least five employees at the radio station and five others who Internet service technicians for ISIS.

The ISIS radio station, dubbed Voice of the Caliphate, broadcasted sermons from ISIS religious figures, and urged locals to follow Shariah low. The station in Afghanistan also warned locals against contact with the Afghan government.

Afghan officials say they believe the site of the strike was not the only “home” of the radio station, and that it was a mobile operation moved around across the Afghan-Pakistan border area to try to prevent detection.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.