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Reuters
MAZAR-I SHARIF
Battles between Taliban and Islamic State fighters in a remote district of Jawzjan province in northern Afghanistan have caused heavy casualties and displaced thousands of people in recent days, officials said on Friday.
Islamic State and Taliban militants are fighting each other in several northern provinces. On Tuesday, IS fighters attacked the house of a Taliban commander in Sar-e Pul province, killing at least 15 people at a prayer ceremony.
Mohammad Reza Ghafouri, spokesman for the Jawzjan provincial governor's office, said fighting between the two groups had been going on for over a week in the southern districts of Darzab and Qush Tepa.
"There have been heavy casualties, killed and wounded, on both sides, totalling close to 300 and the fighting is still going on,"he said. Local people said they had been forced to flee their areas, leaving dead bodies unburied as the fighting went on around.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed there had been fighting with Islamic State in Darzab, vowing that the Taliban would drive them from the area soon.
