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KABUL: More than 20 foreign militant groups operate in Afghanistan and the government recently blocked a key route for ferrying fighters and logistics from Pakistan, the Afghan chief defense ministry spokesman said on Sunday.
Blocking the supply line from Chitral region in Pakistan via the rugged northeastern Afghan province of Badakhshan will mark a blow for the activity of foreign warriors who operate in the northeast and northern regions, Sayed Ghafoor Javid told Arab News
“They wanted to open a channel through Chitral and could not do so because of our efforts … we have conducted a series of operations in Badakhshan and lately killed, among others, three foreign terrorists, two of them from China and one from Uzbekistan.”
Afghanistan was a frontline in the war against “terror” and 21 militant groups were active in the country.
“Unfortunately, our neighboring country (Pakistan) has opened training centers. We have Pakistani, Chechen, and Uzbekistani from Ughur (China) men actively fighting here.”
He said the number of foreign and Taliban fighters varied at fighting seasons, sometimes going down and at other times reaching possibly more than 50,000.
He said an estimated 2,000 Daesh fighters were active, many of them Pakistanis.
Obaidullah Barekzai, a lawmaker from southern Afghanistan, said Daesh combatants from Syria and Iraq had recently entered Afghanistan by various routes.
He said the presence of US-led foreign troops had made Afghanistan a magnet for foreign militants to join the war. “Intelligence of various countries helps them to come and fight here,” he told Arab News.