U.S. airstrikes destroy ISIL’s ‘Voice of the Caliphate’ radio station

Special to WorldTribune.com

A radio station in Afghanistan that was operated by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) was destroyed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.

“Voice of the Caliphate” radio, operated out of a remote part of eastern Afghanistan, was destroyed by two “counter-terrorism airstrikes” on Feb. 1, according to a U.S. military official.

ISIL jihadists at a training camp in Afghanistan.
ISIL jihadists at a training camp in Afghanistan.

Afghan officials had said they believed ISIL was using mobile facilities for the radio broadcasts which were recruiting jihadists in the Jalalabad region.

Most people in Afghanistan do not have televisions and only 10 percent of the population has access to the Internet. Nearly everyone has access to radio and some 175 stations operate across the country.

ISIL’s affiliate in Afghanistan has grown significantly over the past year, with a large presence in districts near the border with Pakistan.

An Afghan official said the U.S. airstrikes on Feb. 1 also killed 21 ISIL supporters, including five who were working for the radio station. The station was set up late last year after months of fighting between ISIL and the Taliban who are said to be bitterly divided over strategy and leadership in the region.

Meanwhile, three Afghan army officers were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb on Feb. 1 in the Gereshk district of southern Helmand province. Gen. Atta Mir, a brigade commander in Gereshk, was one of the dead.

In the northern city of Kunduz, a secretary for the provincial governor’s office was shot dead near his home on Feb. 1. The Taliban controlled Kunduz for a brief period last year.

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