ASADABAD, Afghanistan, March 28 (Xinhua) -- At least 23 fighters from Taliban outfit and the rival Islamic State (IS) group have been killed and over a dozen injured due to infighting in Chapa Dara district of Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province over the past couple of days, said an army statement released here Thursday.
The infighting, according to the statement, flared up after the hardliner IS outfit attacked the rival Taliban group couple of days ago, triggering heavy fighting and resultantly 18 IS fighters and five Taliban insurgents have been killed and 18 others, including 15 IS militants sustained injuries.
No civilians and security personnel have been hurt in the Taliban, IS bloody rivalries, the statement contended.
Neither Taliban nor IS group has made comment.
However, media reports suggest that infighting between Taliban group and the rival Islamic State outfit in Chapa Dara district of Kunar province has forced hundreds of families to leave their houses for safer places.
Officials have yet to make comment on the reported displacement of locals in Chapa Dara district and its vicinity.
Militants affiliated with the IS group, according to locals, have been operating in Kunar and the neighboring Nangarhar province over the past couple of years.
The government forces after series of bloody operations were able to shrink the ability of IS fighters in the eastern Nangarhar province over the past couple of years. However, the militant group has been fighting to consolidate positions in the neighboring Kunar and Nuristan provinces.
