KABUL/ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that its forces killed 28 fighters and captured 32 others in Nuristan province after a group crossed from Pakistan, while Islamabad categorically rejected Afghan allegations that Pakistani security or intelligence agencies supported the group.
The competing accounts, which could not be independently verified, come amid a sharp deterioration in relations between the neighboring countries and days after Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s account
Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said the group entered Kamdesh district in eastern Nuristan on Saturday. It alleged that the fighters included members of Islamic State and former Afghan security personnel and claimed Pakistani authorities had supported or trained them.
The ministry said Afghan forces launched an operation that killed 28 people and captured 32. Independent news organizations have not verified the ministry’s casualty figures or its allegations of Pakistani state involvement.
Pakistan rejects the allegations
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting rejected the Afghan claims, calling them “frivolous, baseless and devoid of any truth.” It denied that Pakistani security forces or intelligence agencies were involved in the Nuristan fighting, recruited or trained former Afghan security personnel, or facilitated Islamic State or other militant groups.
Pakistan also said Afghanistan had not produced evidence establishing Pakistani involvement and repeated its accusation that militant organizations operate from Afghan territory. Kabul has repeatedly denied allowing Afghan soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan.
Relations already under strain
The latest confrontation follows Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan on Sept. 21. Islamabad said those strikes killed 28 militants. Afghan officials said civilians were killed, and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan confirmed at least three civilian deaths.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of sheltering the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has carried out attacks inside Pakistan. The TTP is separate from Afghanistan’s Taliban but has longstanding ties to it. Afghanistan rejects Pakistan’s allegations.
The Nuristan incident adds another flashpoint to a border dispute that has produced repeated military confrontations and mutual accusations this year.