Exclusive: In turf war with Afghan Taliban, Islamic State loyalists gain ground

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By Hamid Shalizi SURKH DEWAL, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Fighters loyal to Islamic State have seized substantial territory in Afghanistan for the first time, witnesses and officials said, wresting areas in the east from rival Taliban insurgents in a new threat to stability. Witnesses who fled fighting in Nangarhar province told Reuters that hundreds of insurgents pledging allegiance to Islamic State pushed out the Taliban, scorching opium poppy fields that help to fund the Taliban's campaign to overthrow the Afghan government. "They (IS loyalists) came in on many white pickup trucks mounted with big machine guns and fought the Taliban.




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