The British newspaper The Times said the group had fought for the Isis-K faction, an offshoot of Isis which operates in south and central Asia.

“Four are Afghans but it seems the other two are Malaysians,” Taliban criminal investigation department chief Saifullah Mohammed was quoted as saying. “They aren’t as tough as they think they are. We’ve just beaten the armies from 36 countries in Nato (the North Atlantic alliance) so we know we can capture and kill the Daesh (Isis) wherever we find them.”

The report said the men had surrendered after a gunfight a few hours after a deadly suicide attack at Kabul airport, reportedly conducted by Isis-K, in which about 200 people were killed, among them British and US soldiers.

The Inspector-General of Police, Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, said the police had not received any information about any Malaysians involved in Islamic State in Afghanistan.

However, he said Malaysia has requested for intelligence from international security agencies to confirm the claims and news reports. Police are also investigating the possibility that the two Malaysians could have already been operating outside the country.