By Hamza Ameer

Kabul, Oct 6 (IANS): The Taliban leadership has launched a major operation to search and eliminate the presence of ISIS- Khorasan, after a bomb attack near a mosque in Kabul last week claiming lives.

The Taliban forces claim to have destroyed an Islamic State cell in the north of Kabul and have launched a search to destroy any footprints or presence of ISIS-K in the capital and other parts of the country.

ISIS-K has emerged as a major challenge for the Taliban as the group has claimed many deadly attacks in the past, most recent being at the Kabul airport, during the withdrawal of foreign troops, followed by last week's suicide blast outside the Eid Gah mosque, where prayers were being held for the deceased mother of Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid.

But the emergence of ISIS-K and Daesh operatives from the capital constitute the daunting challenges that the Taliban government faces as a major resistance against their Islamic setup of governance in the country.

Taliban claim that they have conducted a decisive raid and caught a trio of terrorists behind the mosque attack, wiping out the ISIS-K cell.

"A special unit carried out an operation against ISIS insurgents. As a result of the operation, which was very decisive and successful, the ISIS center was completely destroyed and all the ISIS members in it were killed", stated Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid.

As per reports, ISIS-K has opposed the Taliban leadership and the new government setup in Afghanistan, calling it against the teachings and requirements of a Shariah rule of law.

It is still unclear if more such ISIS-K managed cells or the Taliban have rounded up militants, but reports of heavy clashes have been reported from different parts of the areas surrounding the capital Kabul.

The Taliban government has maintained that there is no organised presence of ISIS-K in Afghanistan nor is there any presence of Al-Qaeda in the country. However, the ongoing targeted attacks have certainly raised concerns of the authenticity behind the Taliban claims.

The ISIS-K challenge has also become a major hurdle for the Taliban in claiming what they called a justified success in Afghanistan, due to which, peace has come back in the country.

Analysts say that ISIS-K is going to remain as a top rival group to the Taliban for many days and months to come. It was also reported that ISIS-K has been recruiting fresh fighters in its group to increase their strength and manpower to fight against the Taliban led government in Afghanistan.