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The Ministry of Defense (MoD) confirmed that a military helicopter made an emergency landing in North-eastern Takhar province.

According to a statement released by MoD, the Mi-17 helicopter belonging to the Afghan military, made an emergency landing in Taloqan city on Thursday.

The statement further added that the helicopter has likely made an emergency landing due to bad weather conditions.

However, the defense ministry said it will investigate the incident to ascertain the exact cause of the incident.

The Ministry of Defense also added that the helicopter made the emergency landing in a safe area and no one on-board, including the pilots of the helicopter sustained injuries.

The Khaama Press News Agency is the leading and largest English news service for Afghanistan with over 3 million hits a month.Independent authors/columnists and experts are welcomed to contribute stories, opinions and editorials. Send stories to news@khaama.com.

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MoD investigating the emergency landing of Mi-17 helicopter in NE of Afghanistan - The Khaama Press News Agency

Armed terroristsattackeda Gurudwara in Shor Bazar Area of Afghanistan on Wednesday. Twenty-eight people lost their lives in the dastardly attack. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, however, the possible role of the Tehreek-e-Taliban backed by Pakistan has not been ruled out. Earlier, it was reported the Islamic Statecommuniqueclaiming responsibility for the attack identified the terrorist as an Indian national Abu Khalid al-Hindi who carried out the attack in order to avenge the supposed plight of Muslims in Kashmir. Meanwhile, Afghan and Western security agencies believe that the attack was ordered by Quetta Shura of the Taliban at the behest of Pakistani intelligence. As per areportby Hindustan Times, the operation was code-named Blackstar and the Haqqani Network led by Talibans deputy commander Sirajuddin Haqqani and elements of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba were used to carry out the attack. Now, it has emerged that Abu Khalid al-Hindi who attacked Sikhs in Afghanistan was one Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal who had escaped from Kasargod, Kerala in 2015 to join ISIS, reported ANI.

Four years ago, Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal had escaped to join ISIS. Before he did, he was a shopkeeper in Kasargod, Kerala. He had joined ISIS along with 14 others from Kasargod itself. Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal was wanted by NIA in its 2016 Kasargod ISIS module case and had a red corner notice out against him.

The 2016 Kasargod IS module caserelatesto the criminal conspiracy hatched by terrorists from Kasaragod district of Kerala since Ramadan, 2015, with the intention of joining and furthering the objectives of ISIS. As part of the conspiracy, 14 accused from Kasaragod district had left India or their workplaces in Middle-East Asia between mid-May and early July 2016, before travelling to Afghanistan or Syria, where they joined the ISIS.

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During the investigation by Kerala Police, the role of 29-year-old Yasmeen Mohammad Zahid, a resident of Batla House, Okhla Jamia Nagar, New Delhi but originally from Sitamarhi district of Bihar, as a co-conspirator of Abdul Rashid was revealed. She was arrested on August 1, 2016, after she was intercepted at Indira Gandhi International Airport while attempting to exit India for Afghanistan, along with her child. As per the Kerala police, Yasmeen Mohammad Zahid was actively aiding Abdul Rashid in his activities including raising funds to support ISIS. The case was handed over to the NIA after she was arrested.

Read: ISIS shifting base to Afghanistan, poses threat to South Asian countries including India: Iran Minister

The NIA investigation revealed that Abdul Rashid, Yasmeen and others from 2015 were involved in activities to further objectives of the ISIS in Kerala and other places of India. 15 people including Sajid had fled from Kerala, India to join the terror group in Nangarhar province in Afghanistan.

The involvement of Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal was revealed by the NIA after he joined the ISIS. Sajid had left on March 31, 2015 for Dubai from the Mumbai airport. Others had all left on different dates. It was reported that all of them had gone to Iran before going off the radar.

The NIA chargesheet said, Preliminary investigation in the above cases revealed that the missing persons left India and joined the IS in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. The accused are continuing their anti-national activities by propagating the ideology of and inviting support for the IS, through various means including, but not limited to, Internet based social media platforms.

The NIA website still has Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal as one of the most wanted terrorists.

Wilayat Khorasan of Islamic State in Afghanistan (ISIS-K), the group Mohammed Sajid is said to have joined, mainly comprises of terrorists from Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Earlier in 2019, 900 terrorists, some of whom were family members of Indians who had joined ISIS, surrendered in the Eastern province of Nangarhar, where the Afghan national security forces were conducting operations against the ISIS. The operations started on the 12th of November 2019 against the terror outfit. 93 terrorists, that included several Pakistanis, had surrendered only hours after Afghanistans offensive against the terror outfit began on the 12th of November 2019.

Interestingly, it wasreported that the Khorasan group of ISIS, or the ISIS-K, had attempted a suicide attack in India in 2018. This was claimed by a top US official. The ISIS-K operates in South Asia and according to Russel Travers, Acting Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Office of Director of National Intelligence, ISIS-K concerns the US the most among all of its other branches.

Of all of the branches and networks of ISIS, ISIS-K is certainly one of those of most concern, probably in the neighbourhood of 4,000 individuals or so, Travers hadsaidin response to a question from Maggie Hassan, the junior Senator from New Hampshire. They have attempted to certainly inspire attacks outside of Afghanistan. They attempted last year to conduct a suicide attack in India. It failed, he had added.

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Abu Khalid al-Hindi who attacked Sikhs in Afghanistan was one Mohammed Sajid from Kasargod ISIS module, Kerala: Here is all you need to know - OpIndia

ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday decided to keep Pakistans western and Indian borders closed for another two weeks as part of precautions to stem the novel coronavirus.

The decision came at a meeting of the National Coordination Committee held in Islamabad with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair today.

In a tweet after the meeting, Special Assistant to PM on National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning Moeed Yousuf said: In the NCC for COVID-19 meeting on the 26th, we have decided to keep Pakistans western [border with Iran and Afghanistan] and Indian borders completely closed for another 2 weeks.

In the NCC for COVID-19 meeting on the 26th, we have decided to keep Pakistans western and Indian borders completely closed for another 2 weeks.

Moeed W. Yusuf (@YusufMoeed) March 27, 2020

The meeting took an overview of the situation arising out of coronavirus and measures to cope with it.

Read More: PM announces corona relief fund, orders release of lockdown detainees

The participants gave a practical demonstration of the precautionary measures to avoid coronavirus by observing social distance in their seating arrangement.

Earlier, on March 13, the federal government had decided to seal Pakistans western border with Afghanistan and Iran in an attempt to contain the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Read More: Coronavirus pandemic: NCC decides to lift ban on goods transport

Later on March 20, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the opening of the Chaman-Spin Boldak border to Afghanistan for trucks to crossover to the other side.

He tweeted: Despite global pandemic of COVID 19, we remain committed to supporting our Afghan brothers & sisters. I have given instructions to open the Chaman-Spin Boldak border & let trucks crossover into Afghanistan. In time of crisis, we remain steadfast with Afghanistan.

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Pakistans borders with Iran, Afghanistan, India to remain shut for another 2 weeks - ARY NEWS

Almost a week since the Afghan Taliban trumpeted the defeat of the Islamic State in Afghanistans Kunar province, U.S. officials remain wary, though they concede the terror groups grip on territory in rural areas appears to be slipping.

The latest assessment is consistent with U.S. appraisals of previous claims by both Taliban and Afghan government officials, which they say, while based in fact, have at times overstated gains against one of the Islamic States most resilient and dangerous affiliates.

The Talibans campaign against ISIS-Khorasan in Kunar province is consistent with Taliban public statements to rout the group from Afghanistan, a U.S. counterterrorism official told VOA, using an acronym for the terror group.

ISIS-Khorasan has continued to face pressure from the Taliban in Kunar province this year, the official said, cautioning, Recent attacks in Kabul claimed by ISIS-Khorasan indicate the group is still active and capable of conducting attacks in urban centers.

Taliban officials first started sharing word of the Islamic States defeat in Kunar on March 14, saying it was the result of a 14-day operation that took advantage of better weather across the mountainous, northeastern Afghan province.

The entire province of Kunar was cleared of Daesh criminals and the people were rescued through this victory, the Taliban said in a statement, using the Arabic acronym for the terror group.

The statement also claimed 114 IS-Khorasan members surrendered to Taliban forces, while more than 100 others fled.

But U.S. officials have pushed back against the idea that the Taliban alone were responsible for the recent gains.

Several dozen ISIS-Khorasan fighters have also surrendered to Afghan forces over the past few weeks, the counterterrorism official said, noting ongoing operations by both the Afghan government and the U.S.-led coalition.

Top U.S. military officials also argue the Talibans efforts against IS-Khorasan, also known as IS-K or ISIS-K, have benefited from very limited U.S. support.

"We suspended actively pursuing Taliban units engaged with ISIS-K, a military official said on the condition of anonymity, pointing to fighting late last year in Nangarhar province.

We also conducted some strikes on known ISIS-K locations, the official said. However, those strikes were not coordinated with the Taliban."

'A bloody mess'

But top U.S. officials admit that Taliban efforts against IS-Khorasan have proven effective.

"We've watched the Taliban compress and crush ISISs presence on the ground in southern Nangarhar province," U.S. Central Commands General Kenneth McKenzie told lawmakers earlier this month.

That's some of the worst terrain in the world," he said. "It was a bloody mess, but they did it."

Yet questions persist about just how debilitating defeats in Nangarhar province and elsewhere have been for IS-Khorasan.

Recent U.S. estimates on the number of IS-Khorasan fighters have varied between 1,000 and as many as 5,000. Just last month, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan said it was possible IS-Khorasan had lost up to half its force because of pressure from coalition, Afghan and Taliban operations.

Still, U.S. military official caution they have low confidence in the lower estimates. They note that IS-Khorasan has been repeatedly pushed to the brink, losing key leaders while seeing its numbers whittled to the low hundreds, only to bounce back.

Losing territory does not equate to the end of ISIS and its affiliates, a Defense Department inspector general's report concluded last month. Even when ISIS-K was based in Nangarhar, it had established cells in other parts of the country and demonstrated the ability to spread and recruit.

Looking ahead

Some analysts also caution that the leaders of IS-Khorasan, like their counterparts in Iraq and Syria, may be less focused on holding territory, instead looking to lay the groundwork for a larger resurgence after U.S. forces leave Afghanistan.

U.S. intelligence indicates that despite having lost territory in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, IS-Khorasan still has strongholds in Herat province and parts of Kabul, while maintaining smaller cells in Helmand, Kapisa and Baghlan provinces.

There are also indications that IS-Khorasan is focusing on more global ambitions.

"Of all of the branches and networks of ISIS, ISIS-K is certainly one of those of most concern,"Russell Travers,former acting director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, told lawmakers last November.

"They have attempted, certainly, to inspire attacks outside of Afghanistan," he said, adding "they certainly have got the desire" to carry out the attacks themselves.

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US Admits Taliban Offensive Is Whittling IS's Grip on Afghanistan - VOA News

No one comes in until they've quarantined for 14 days, CENTCOM says.

No U.S. forces will move into U.S. Central Commands area of responsibility a region that includes the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan under a 14-day stop movement order issued Friday by the U.S. military command responsible for the MiddleEast.

And thats not all. Any troops slated to deploy to CENTCOMs AOR must first stay in quarantine for 14 days regardless of where they are coming from, U.S. Central Command said in its statement, so that [deploying forces] will be cleared for duty upon arrival as a prudent precaution to maintain critical combat and combat supportfunctions.

This means outbound personnel already in Iraq and Afghanistan will be temporarily held on station while their replacements are quarantined for the two-week period prior to their eventualarrival.

The goal is to ensure that units and personnel who arrive in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility are ready for tasking on arrival, and to ensure that we are not quarantining personnel at locations that will be challenged to support, CENTCOMs Capt. William Urban told Defense One.

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Many troops heading to and from the Middle East pass through the area of responsibility of European Command, which is itself dealing with the pandemic. About 2,600 personnel are now in self-isolation as a precaution due to travel or other reasons, the Defense Department said in a statement Friday. These individuals are not necessarily sick, but may have been exposed and are doing their due diligence following health preventative measures. To date, 35 EUCOM personnel have so far tested positive forCOVID-19.

The U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are predominantly training missions to build up the capabilities of the host nations army and police forces. So the stop-movement order is unlikely to much affect means the pace of combat operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq and defensive operations against the Taliban inAfghanistan.

Coalition training missions, however, have already been altered by coronavirus response efforts, CENTCOM said Friday. And theyve been suspended entirely inIraq.

But critical operations in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility continue as we adjust and overcome a dynamic environment, CENTCOM said in itsstatement.

Some of the functions of the counter-ISIS campaign can [still] be carried out by smaller, more agile and lower visibility special forces who can commute to the fight from larger bases, said Michael Knights, an Iraq analyst at the Washington Institute. But unless the Iraqi security forces are protecting our forward bases from militia attacks, they are too exposed to justify therisk.

As for White Houses efforts to salvage a peace deal for Afghanistan, CENTCOMs stop-movement and quarantine orders are not expected to delay the drawdown in forces from Afghanistan as part of the U.S. agreement with the Taliban, the combatant commandsaid.

Thats good news for President Donald Trumps reported desire to withdraw from Afghanistan by the U.S. general election in November. But its unhelpful news for the administration in Kabul and the majority of Afghan citizens, said Bill Roggio of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Thats because the U.S-Taliban agreement is not a peace deal; it really is a withdrawal deal, Roggio said. The Taliban call it the Termination of Occupation agreement. Meanwhile the group is reporting on its attacks daily, and in English, and those are totalling about 20 attacks per day, hesaid.

The most recent high-profile Taliban violence occurred Friday morning in southern Zabul province when an alleged insider attack at a rural checkpoint left nearly two dozen Afghans dead, including at least 17 members of the securityforces.

I expect to see more of that, Roggio said. This is called getting off the fence, because we can end our involvement in these wars, but these wars wont end. And in Afghanistan, the Talibans going to continue fighting. Theyre telling you that and theyre showing you that. And theyve said numerous times peace will come when the Taliban rules Afghanistan. Thats its definition ofpeace.

And in Iraq, the U.S.-led coalition is shrinking rapidly as part of a repositioning plan to prevent potential spread of COVID-19, CENTCOM said in another statement Friday. As a result, the Coalition will temporarily return some of its training-focused forces to their own countries in the coming days and weeksas the situation permits, we will resume our support to Iraqitraining.

That repositioning plan coupled with CENTCOMs alleged success of [the Iraqi security forces] in their fight against ISIS also calls for the continued closure of military bases across the country. That includes a base at Al-Qaim, near the border with Syria, which the U.S.-led coalition exited and handed over to the Iraqi security forces onTuesday.

The Coalition is adjusting its positioning in Iraq for two reasons, CENTCOM explained in its statement Friday. The first is long-planned adjustments to the force to reflect success in the campaign against Daesh, or ISIS; and the second is because repositioning is prudent to help prevent the spread of thevirus.

Looking ahead, we anticipate the Coalition supporting the Iraqi Security Forces from fewer bases with fewer people, the statement said. The Coalition will retain key military personnel on some Iraqi bases, including with Iraqi Security Forces at headquarters, for joint base security, tactical information sharing, and operations againstDaesh.

For the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, Knights said, the changes announced Friday are part of a long-planned adjustment that was due in the September 2020 timeframe [but] has been moved forward by militia pressure and by the coronavirus, both of which have prevented the coalition from undertaking the tasks it is present in Iraq to perform, which is the fight againstISIS.

The even longer-term impacts, of course, are far more concerning, Knights said. Of those, its not a stretch to imagine a grinding halt to Iraqi army training efforts and ISIS gaining more freedom to move, concentrate, and attack at [the] locallevel.

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Coronavirus Halts Military Travel In and Out of Iraq and Afghanistan - Defense One