JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- A total of 1,301 fighters and families of the Islamic State (IS) outfit have laid down arms and surrendered to security authorities in the eastern Nangarhar province over the past one month, officials said Friday.
Talking to reporters at a press briefing here, Nangarhar's governor Shah Mahmoud Miakhil contended that a total of 1,301 IS elements including 413 armed men, some of them foreigners and 888 women and children have surrendered to security authorities, mostly in Achin district.
Mounting military pressures have forced the militants to surrender, Miakhil said, adding the military crackdown would continue until peace and security return to the area.
Meanwhile, a statement of Nangarhar provincial government released here stated that the government wants all anti-state elements to follow the suit and give up fighting.
Backing the ongoing military pressure, a tribal elder Malik Usman Shinwari said at the press briefing that exerting pressure on the insurgent groups should continue.
Nangarhar police chief Aimal Niazi, according to the statement of the provincial administration, has vowed to spare no efforts in stabilizing peace and security there in the relatively troubled province.
The hardliner IS outfit which emerged in parts of Nangarhar in early 2015 has yet to make comment on the situation there.
