At least 700 the IS terror group militants were killed in eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar in the last three months, local media reported citing Afghan National Army Gen. Mohammad Zaman Waziri.

The Khaama news agency reported Waziri saying that the militants have suffered heavy casualties in the region, which local officials now claim to be cleared of the IS presence. He added that security checkpoints would be added in the liberated areas.

Afghanistan has been experiencing significant political, social and security-related instability for decades, as terrorist organizations, including the Taliban radical movement, banned in Russia, and IS continue to stage attacks against civilian and military targets.

On Thursday, Sputnik reported that IS had made inroads into al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden's old hideout in Tora Bora, a network of tunnels and caves in eastern Afghanistan. In addition to IS's presence, the Taliban remains a major threat to stability in the war-torn nation.

The unnamed official who spoke with Stars and Stripes claimed that most of the forces would be deployed to train Afghan security forces and advise their top commanders. A "smaller number" of the possible 4,000 troops would engage in direct counterterror combat operations against IS and the Taliban, the news agency noted.