Afghan troops have killed at least six ISIL militants who had attacked a security checkpoint in the troubled southern Afghanistan.
An Afghan military statement on Monday confirmed that six ISIL terrorists, including a senior militant commander, were killed following their attack in Kajaki District of Helmand province.
The Afghan forces also seized an arms cache and ammunition belonging to the militants.
The statement, however, did not specify whether the Afghan forces suffered casualties during the fierce clashes.
The fierce fighting comes as fears are growing that the ISIL militants have been making inroads in the militancy-riddled country.
A series of clashes between Taliban militants and the ISIL terrorist groups have been reported across Afghanistan over the past weeks.
Some media reports say the Takfiri ISIL terror group has has started actively recruiting militants in some regions of the violence-wracked country.
In a report to the US Congress, the Pentagon disclosed that the ISIL militant group is in an “initial exploratory phase” in Afghanistan.
“ISIL will likely continue to try to expand its presence in Afghanistan during the upcoming year, and it will compete for relevance with the Taliban and other extant terrorist and insurgent groups,” the report said.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani recently said that the ISIL group poses a serious threat to the county's security.
The war-ravaged country is experiencing bloodshed more than 13 years after the United States and its Western allies invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.
The ISIL terrorists, who currently control parts of Syria and Iraq, have been committing heinous crimes in the captured areas.
JR/KA/HMV