Kabul dismisses reports on IS presence in Afghanistan as groundless

Kabul, July 23

The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has termed the reports on the presence of the Daesh or Islamic State (IS) outfit in the country as baseless and utterly rebuffed them, according to its foreign ministry.

In a tweet on Saturday, Ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said: "We reiterate that the IEA (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) will not allow anyone to threaten the national security of Afghanistan, or use our territory against others."

Iran's top diplomat has claimed that the terrorist group's operatives had been shifted to Afghanistan from Syria, Libya and Iraq, Xinhua news agency reported quoting media reports.

"We reject the Iranian foreign minister's allegation asserting that Daesh leaders have been transferred to Afghanistan from Iraq, Syria and Libya," Balkhi contended in his reaction.

Although the Afghan security forces have killed and arrested scores of affiliated IS operatives, the extremist armed group has claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks including bombing mosques, hotel and foreign ministry employees in the capital Kabul over nearly the past two years.