KABUL, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Islamic State (IS) militants are making new inroads into Afghanistan to disturb peace talks with the Taliban and try to turn Afghanistan into its main headquarters for extending activities in central Asia, a military expert said.
"Since its emergence, with more or less than 8,000 fighters in Afghanistan, the IS outfit has renewed violent activities in the eastern and northern provinces with a dream of turning the country into their main headquarters to reach countries in the region," Gen. (Rtd) Atiqullah Amarkhil, a political and military analyst, told Xinhua.
The momentum intensified brutally after talks were reportedly resumed between the Taliban officials and the U.S. representatives in the Gulf state of Qatar, he added.
On Sunday, an army soldier identified an IS suicide bomber before he detonated his explosive in a busy traffic circle in Jalalabad city, capital of eastern Nangarhar province, in the latest attack claimed by the IS.
The soldier named Mohammad Omar was killed together with the attacker and five people were wounded.
The mountainous Nangarhar region has been regarded as IS militants' hotbed in the country where the IS emerged in early 2015. The group mostly consists of disaffected Taliban and members of extremist jihadist groups.
The U.S. military dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb on the Achin district of Nangarhar, on an IS target in April last year, however the bombing and ensuing massive military operations failed to uproot the group in Nangarhar.
Two IS suicide bombers attacked a mosque while people were offering Friday prayers in Gardez, capital of neighboring Paktia province last Friday, killing 39 people and injuring 80 others.
Amarkhil blamed the outfit for using youths and teenagers as military recruits, misleading them and diverting their minds towards Islamic extremism, as recently seen in Jawzjan province, where most of the 250 IS's fighters who surrendered to the government, were young children.
As to why IS fighters have chosen eastern provinces to easily destabilize the country, the military analyst said that Afghanistan has many strategic regions and impassible points in the east, closely extending to the gates of Kabul and they can threaten Kabul and then the north if they succeed to consolidate strong and well-equipped bases in these regions.
Regarding IS fighters' clandestine return from Iraq and Syria to Afghanistan, he said "Afghanistan is geopolitically suitable for military activities and is the heart of Asia, from where the jihadist radicals can threaten any part of the world."
More than 2,300 militants loyal to the IS have been killed and over 500 others sustained injuries in 2017 in four Afghan provinces, including Nangarhar, according to Afghan military officials.
