PhotoKABUL, Afghanistan — Militants attacked an army unit near Afghanistan’s main military university early Monday, killing at least 11 Afghan soldiers and wounding 16 others in what has been an intense period of violence in Kabul, the capital. The Islamic State’s local affiliate in Afghanistan claimed responsibility in a message distributed by the group’s Amaq news agency. PhotoAs the group’s foothold in eastern Afghanistan has come under sustained military pressure, it has increasingly claimed responsibility for urban attacks. But in those urban attacks, Afghan and Western officials see an overlap between the Islamic State and the Haqqani network, a brutal arm of the Taliban long behind complex urban operations. “For us there is no difference between Taliban, Haqqani and ISIS — all of them are terrorist groups.”

Source: New York Times January 29, 2018 03:45 UTC