VOA’s Afghanistan Service contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security, the country’s intelligence agency, released a new video showing its special forces attacking Islamic State sleeper cells in rural areas of Kabul Wednesday.
The agency also said it arrested this week a key member of the terror group accused of coordinating suicide attacks and managing suicide bombers in the capital.
The agency said in a statement that it acted on prior intelligence about three locations around the capital, killing two IS suicide bombers and seizing a large amount of explosives and ammunitions.
“We have killed two IS suicide bombers and seized heavy weaponry, suicide vests, explosives and materials used to improvise vehicular bombs,” the statement said.
At least two members of the Afghan security forces also died in the operation.
Increase in violence
The recent crackdown on IS comes amid an increase in violence in the city perpetrated by both Taliban and IS militants, officials said.
On Wednesday, a car bomb exploded outside a police station in Kabul, killing at least 14 people and wounding more than 140. Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
On Sunday, IS carried out a deadly bombing on a minibus carrying the employees of private television, Khorshid TV, in Afghanistan, officials said.
The blast killed two civilians passing by and injured three employees of the television station.
Peace talks
The increase in violence comes amid direct peace talks between the U.S. and Afghanistan, the latest round of which was wrapped up in Doha, Qatar, this week.
Led by Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. has been holding direct talks with the Taliban since mid-2018. There have been seven rounds of direct talks in an effort to reach a deal to end the war.
Both sides seem to have ironed out their differences for a deal to end the conflict in the country.
“My team & Taliban representatives will continue to discuss technical details as well as steps and mechanisms required for a successful implementation of the four-part agreement we’ve been working toward since my appointment. Agreement on these details is essential,” Khalilzad tweeted Monday.
Khalilzad, however, condemned the recent violence in Afghanistan.
“Indiscriminate attacks and intentional Injury to civilians are never warranted. We condemn the attack today in Kabul for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, and in which scores were killed and reportedly more than 145 injured, including many civilians,” Khalilzad said Wednesday.