Taliban claims that Islamic State in Afghanistan is ‘under control’

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers say that the threat posed by the Islamic State group in the country is “more or less under control,” despite recent bloody attacks that have killed dozens.

Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tells a news conference that IS is “not a great threat,” adding that around 600 members or sympathizers have been arrested since the Taliban seized control of the country in mid-August.

He says there were even a few women among those captured, who would be questioned by other women.

“They are not many in Afghanistan, because they do not have the support of the people,” says Mujahid, adding that the Taliban are continuing operations against their Islamist foes.

Mujahid says that unlike its counterpart in the Middle East, IS-Khorasan was mostly made up of local fighters, and that its presence in Afghanistan is not a threat to other countries.