Two civilians and two Taliban killed by gunmen in Afghanistan's Jalalabad

No one claimed responsibility for the shooting, but Daesh, which has a strong presence in Nangarhar, previously claimed several attacks against Taliban there.

By Ioanna Sakoufaki
Afghan men walk past from the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan April 21, 2021. / Reuters Archive

Gunmen shot and killed two Taliban fighters and two civilians in the eastern city of Jalalabad.

Two other civilians were wounded in the attack, said Mohammad Hanif, a cultural official for the city's surrounding province, Nangarhar.

No one claimed responsibility for the shooting, but Daesh, which has a strong presence in Nangarhar and considers the Taliban an enemy, has previously claimed several attacks against them, including several killings in Jalalabad.

The two civilians killed were Sayed Maroof Sadat, a former spokesman for the Nangarhar department of agriculture, and his cousin, Sharif Sadat.

Sadat’s son was among the two wounded.

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August, attacks by Daesh militants against them have increased. The rise has raised the spectre of a wider conflict between the two extremist groups.

On Friday, Taliban fighters raided a hideout of Daesh north of Kabul, killing and arresting an unspecified number of militants, a Taliban spokesman said. Daesh activity in Nangarhar province has also led to Taliban crackdowns there.

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