By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan

Nearly 200 Daesh members have surrendered to Afghan forces, following deadly assaults on them by the Taliban militant group in northern Jawzjan province bordering Turkmenistan, officials said on Wednesday.

Abdul Hafeez, security chief at the provincial Afghan National Police headquarters, told Anadolu Agency that the clashes for turf between the two armed groups sparked last month in Jawzjan’s Darzaab district that claimed close to 300 lives on both sides.

He confirmed that notorious Daesh ringleaders, including Mawlawi Hebibur Rehman and Mufti Naimatullah -- along with up to 200 fighters and their family members have surrendered to the government forces in the district.

A day earlier, the local Salam Afghanistan radio reported up to 100 homes were torched in the district by the both sides. It added the ragging clashes have forced thousands of families to flee Darzaab and neighboring Qosh Tapa districts.

Zabihullah Mujahed, the Taliban spokesman, claimed in a message that all northern provinces of the country have been freed from Daesh terrorists.

The pro-Daesh militants have their main bastion in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar and Kunar provinces bordering Pakistan’s restive tribal belt, however, they also have significant clout in a number of districts in northern Afghanistan bordering Central Asia.