Officials from Afghanistan’s intelligence agency—the National Directorate of Security (NDS) - on Sunday confirmed security forces have arrested at least two Daesh members in a raid in Kabul.

NDS officials said this has dealt a major blow to the group which has perpetrated a range of deadly attacks in the country and in Kabul.  

The suspects, named Ehsanullah and Omar, are suspected of having been Daesh’s chief of operations and recruiter for Kabul. The two are also alleged to have been involved in the deadly attack on Imam Zaman mosque in August last year which killed over 39 people and wounded hundreds more wounded. 

According to the NDS, security forces having been looking for the two suspects for the past four months. 

Omar is a computer science graduate and has been a key mastermind behind Daesh attacks in Kabul, the NDS said. 

NDS said that Omar was also tasked with identifying targets for Daesh and used technology to do so. The NDS also said he had been able to evade capture for months. 

“When he dropped me, he and two suicide attackers went towards the Takia Khana which is located in Qala Najarha area of Khair Khana,” said the one suspect, Omar, referring to the attack on Imam Zaman mosque in August. 

Ehsanullah has meanwhile reportedly confessed that during his mission as a Daesh operator, he recruited over 20 people.  

“I know Omar, he is our neighbor and he attended Madrasa with us, but I don’t know when he joined Daesh, I was also one of the supporters of Daesh,” the other suspect Ehsanullah said. 

Meanwhile, residents in Kabul have called on Afghanistan’s legal and judicial institutions to ensure justice is served and that they are executed. 

“They martyred innocent lives here, the innocent people, perpetrators must be executed,” said one resident of Kabul. 

“Don’t fill the prison, execute them,” another resident said.

A few weeks ago, security forces said they had uncovered a large Daesh hideout in Kabul.

Sources from the NDS said that the hideout was discovered based on information given by a Daesh militant who was arrested during the Marshal Fahim Military University attack on 29 January. 

Over 60 Attacks Hit Afghanistan In 2017

Between early 2015 and the end of 2017, the group carried out over 60 attacks in Afghanistan – many of which were deadly suicide bombings. 
 
Included in these attacks were:

• The attack on Tabyan Cultural Center in Kabul - 42 killed and 84 wounded
• The attack on Jawadia Mosque in Herat - 29 killed and 46 wounded
• The attack on Shamshad TV in Kabul - 2 killed and 21 wounded
• The attack on Imam Zaman mosque in Kabul - 50 killed and 46 wounded
• The attack on a mosque in Ghor province - 33 killed and 46 wounded
• The attack on al-Zahra Mosque in Kabul - 7 killed and 21 wounded
. The Attack on an Afghan Military Division in Kabul- 11 cadets killed