HERAT: Taliban forces fought a three-hour gun battle with a group of alleged Daesh kidnappers on Sunday, killing three of them, officials said.
The clash erupted in the western Afghan city of Herat when the new Taliban government's fighters cornered the gang in a high-rise building, Herat Police Command said in a statement.
Local residents said they heard light and heavier weapons used in the fighting. Police said three Daesh members were killed and two Taliban were wounded in the clash.
Videos circulating on social media appeared to show that at least one suspect was shot dead after he had been detained and disarmed, during a scuffle with his captors.
The footage also showed victorious Taliban forces driving through town with three corpses exposed on the back of a pick-up truck, as cheering supporters followed on scooters.
Interior ministry spokesman Qari Sayed Khosti tweeted the three Daesh-Khorasan members were involved in major kidnappings across Herat province.
"Special forces surrounded them, and they started firing. The men were killed in a shootout with security forces."
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in mid-August, overthrowing the previous US-backed government, and have vowed to restore stability after a 20-year war.
But their efforts have been undermined by a series of attacks claimed by Daesh-K, another hardline Sunni extremist group that has a bitter rivalry with the Taliban.
Taliban kill three ‘Daesh kidnappers’ in shootout
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Taliban kill three ‘Daesh kidnappers’ in shootout
- The clash erupted in Herat when the new Taliban government's fighters cornered the gang in a high-rise building
- An interior ministry spokesman said the three Daesh-Khorasan members were involved in major kidnappings
Greta Thunberg released from custody after arrest at UK pro-Palestinian protest
- UK-based campaign group Prisoners for Palestine said Thunberg was earlier arrested under the Terrorism Act
- City of London Police said Thunberg had been bailed until March
LONDON: Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was released from custody after being arrested on Tuesday in London at a pro-Palestinian protest, police said.
UK-based campaign group Prisoners for Palestine said Thunberg was earlier arrested under the Terrorism Act for holding a sign that said “I support the Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide.” The British government has proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist group.
City of London Police said Thunberg had been bailed until March.
Police said earlier two other people had been arrested for throwing red paint at a building. A spokesperson said 22-year-old woman later attended the scene and was arrested for displaying a placard in support of a proscribed organization.
Prisoners for Palestine, which supports some detained activists who have gone on hunger strike, said the building had been targeted because it was used by an insurance firm which they said provided services to the British arm of Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems.
The insurance company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Thunberg, 22, became prominent after staging weekly climate protests in front of the Swedish parliament in 2018.
Last year, she was cleared of a public order offense in Britain as a judge ruled police had no power to arrest her and others at a protest in London the year before.
She was detained along with 478 people and expelled by Israel in October after joining an activist convoy of vessels, the Global Sumud Flotilla, that attempted to reach Gaza with aid supplies. Israel has consistently denied genocide allegations.
