Surrendered IS fighters are war prisoners, Afghanistan tells US

WASHINGTON: Afghanistan told the United States that Islamic State fighters who surrendered last week will be treated as prisoners of war, and not honored guests, despite the warm welcome they had initially received, a top US general said on Wednesday.

While pressure has been building for peace talks between the Western-backed government in Kabul and the Taliban insurgency, US officials say Islamic State’s branch in Afghanistan is not part of any reconciliation push and instead must be wiped out. Even by the bloody standards of the Afghan war, Islamic State has gained an unmatched reputation for brutality, routinely beheading opponents or forcing them to sit on explosives.

But last week, an Afghan governor’s office floated the possibility of amnesty for a large group of Islamic State fighters, including two senior commanders, who gave themselves up after being driven from their strongholds by Taliban insurgents.

US Army General Joseph Votel, head of the US military’s Central Command, said the Afghans acknowledged the surrender, the largest of its kind so far by Islamic State, “could have been handled better.” “The government of Afghanistan has assured us that these ISIS-K fighters will be treated as war prisoners,” Votel told a news briefing at the Pentagon, using an acronym for the Afghan affiliate of the group. Votel said that the fighters would be investigated and held to account for any war crimes they committed. Civilians who fled the last clashes have accused Islamic State fighters of atrocities, giving detailed accounts of women and young girls being taken from their families, raped and, in some cases, murdered. “They have essentially waged a pretty vicious campaign against the people without regard to civilian casualties,” Votel said.