KABUL, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Taliban militants and insurgents loyal to the hardliner Islamic State (IS) group have been fighting against each other in parts of Afghanistan to gain grounds and consolidate footholds, officials said.
In the latest waves of tense rivalry, Taliban group have arrested five IS fighters in Darzab district of the northern Jawzjan province, provincial police chief Rahmatullah Turkistani said Thursday.
"A five-member delegation of IS group under Sayed Jalal was visiting Darzab district to organize its fighters when the Taliban on the way back captured them as captive on Monday night," Turkistani said.
Neither Taliban nor IS group has made comment on the report.
Darzab and the neighboring Qush Tepa districts along the border with Saripul province have been the scene of increasing militancy and rivalry between Taliban and IS insurgents over the past year.
Meanwhile, clash erupted between Taliban and IS group in parts of the eastern Nangarhar province on Monday has given upper hand to the IS fighters as the hardliner group has captured the strategically important Tora Bora mountain ranges close to the border with Pakistan.
Served as the main base of al-Qaida network and the hideout of its ex-leader Osama Bin Laden until the collapse of Taliban regime in late 2001, Tora Bora, according to local media reports, was overrun by IS militants on Wednesday forcing Taliban fighters to retreat.
Taliban militants who have been facing mounting pressure from IS over the past two years in the eastern Nangarhar province are yet to make comment.
Scores of families, according to locals have left their houses in Tora Bora for safer places.
A tribal elder from eastern Nangarhar province, Azatullah has blamed government for negligence, saying poor management of the administration has paved the way for IS and Taliban groups to increase insurgency in the relatively restive province.
