Five U.S. special forces troops, fighting alongside Afghan special forces, were injured in the fighting. When Afghan troops pushed into Kot, a district close to the border with Pakistan, this week, they found many of the houses empty, with posters plastered on the walls and black flags left by departing Islamic State fighters. "We have already destroyed their training camps in Kot district and the operations will expand to other districts too," said Shereen Agha, an Afghan army spokesman. But Western officials say the army has increasingly taken the offensive against the insurgents, both Taliban and Islamic State, and prevented the fall of district and provincial centers. Backed by U.S. special forces troops and airstrikes that authorities say have killed hundreds of Islamic State fighters in recent weeks, the Afghan army has launched an offensive against the movement, which is now believed to be confined to three or four districts in eastern Afghanistan.

Source: Thanhnien News July 30, 2016 13:30 UTC