We will bury IS

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has vowed to "bury" the Islamic State group's affiliate in Afghanistan, a report said, after Washington granted the US military legal authority to strike the jihadists in the country.

"This could be a point of no return for Daesh -- we will bury Daesh," Ghani told BBC in an interview released yesterday, using the Arabic acronym for IS.

"Afghans are now motivated by revenge. They (IS) have confronted the wrong people," Ghani said on the sidelines of World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos.

The US State Department earlier this month formally designated the group's affiliate in Afghanistan and Pakistan -- which calls itself "Khorasan Province" -- as a terrorist organisation. The White House this month also gave the US military legal authority to target the group's fighters in Afghanistan.

A US military official said yesterday Afghan army units battling the Taliban in southern Helmand province are facing major restructuring and leadership changes, with several key commanders being replaced.

US Army Brig. Gen. Wilson Shoffner, the head of public affairs for the US-Nato mission, told The Associated Press that the Afghan army corps in Helmand is now being "rebuilt" and that senior officers are being replaced.