Security forces have "obliterated" ISIL militants in Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani said on Tuesday, hours after a prisoner swap with Taliban insurgents raised hopes of a lull in violence in the country. 

More than 600 fighters from ISIL, locally known as Daesh, have surrendered with their families to the Afghan government in past weeks. Officials say air strikes by Afghan and coalition forces, lack of funds and low morale have forced the group to give up. 

"No one believed one year ago that we would stand up and today be saying we have obliterated Daesh," Ghani told a gathering of elders and officials in Jalalabad, the main city of eastern Nangarhar province that saw a wave of suicide attacks in past years claimed by the jihadists. 

"Now that Daesh militants have surrendered, I ask authorities to treat their families humanely," he added.

The government said among fighters in its custody are foreign nationals from Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and the Maldives. 

However, the Afghan Taliban, which has been battling ISIL and the government for control of the country, disputed that. 

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban's official spokesman, described Ghani's announcement as "absurd". 

"Kabul admin had a zero percent role in defeat of Daesh and the proud people of Nangarhar are witnesses," he tweeted. 

The Taliban on Tuesday freed two Western professors in exchange for three of its senior leaders held by the government, in a rare act of cooperation between the warring sides. 

American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, professors at the American University of Afghanistan, were released three years after they were kidnapped outside the university. 

As part of the exchange, the Afghan government has also released three key Taliban prisoners, including Anas Haqqani, a senior figure in the eponymous Haqqani network, and two other Taliban commanders.

(Cover: Ashraf Ghani arrives to cast his vote in the presidential election in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 28, 2019. /Reuters Photo)

(With input from Reuters, AFP)