As a Taliban commander, he spent years battling the former Afghan government. Now, with his hardline movement back in power, Mullah Neda Mohammad vows to continue fighting against rival jihadists, the Islamic State (IS) group.
Following the Taliban’s victory in August, Mohammad took over as governor of Nangarhar province, home to the IS Afghanistan-Pakistan chapter’s stronghold.
“We are searching for individuals who are hiding,” Mohammad said, claiming his forces have arrested 70 to 80 IS members since they took control of Nangarhar’s provincial capital Jalalabad, the country’s fifth biggest city.
IS have been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan of recent years, massacring civilians at mosques, shrines, public squares and even hospitals.
The group claimed responsibility for a devastating suicide bombing near Kabul airport on August 26 that killed more than 100 Afghans and 13 U.S. soldiers.
It was the deadliest attack against American forces in Afghanistan since 2011.
After the blast, the U.S. military said it had carried out a drone strike against an IS “planner” in the Nangarhar province.
Still, Mohammad says he does not believe IS poses a great a threat as they did in Iraq and Syria.
“Here they have suffered many casualties in northern and eastern Afghanistan,” he said in Jalalabad, at the governor’s palace, now decked with Taliban flags.
With the Taliban in power, “there will be no reason for (IS) to be here”, he said.
“We don’t consider IS as a threat.”
