French female IS fighter caught in Afghanistan

KABUL: A French woman fighting for the Islamic State group in Afghanistan has been detained, Afghan officials said on Friday, amid fears that IS militants fleeing Syria and Iraq are finding their way to the country.

The woman was captured during a military operation in the northern province of Jowzjan -- an IS stronghold -- on Thursday night, several officials said. AFP recently reported that French and Algerian fighters, some arriving from Syria, had joined the group’s Afghan franchise in the restive province.

"In a joint operation between NDS and Afghan special forces, five Afghan men and a French woman fighting for IS were arrested in Darzab district of Jowzjan," the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghanistan’s spy agency, said in a statement. The Defence Ministry confirmed that a "French insurgent woman was among those detained". Six IS fighters were also killed, it said.

Afghan officials did not clarify how they identified the woman’s nationality. One official described her to AFP as "French speaking". They provided no further details about the woman or where she had come from. Provincial police chief Faqir Mohammad Jawzjani told AFP that US forces were also involved in Thursday’s operation. "Four Daesh fighters were killed and one French woman... was also detained," Jawzjani said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.