Afghanistan says 28 fighters killed as Islamabad, Kabul trade accusations

Kabul, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan reported on Sunday that its forces killed 28 fighters and apprehended 32 others, including suspected members of the Islamic State group who allegedly crossed from neighboring Pakistan. The Afghan Defense Ministry disclosed these details on X, asserting that the individuals were killed or captured on Saturday in Kamdesh district within the northeastern province of Nuristan.

The ministry alleged that several Islamic State-affiliated groups were dispatched from Pakistan with backing from Pakistani authorities, aiming to instigate acts of subversion and foster insecurity.

Afghanistan does not acknowledge its border with Pakistan as an international boundary; instead, they share a 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) frontier known as the Durand Line. Pakistan's Ministry of Information dismissed these claims as "frivolous, baseless and devoid of any truth." In response, Pakistan's ministry categorically rejected the allegations, asserting that neither its security forces nor intelligence agencies were involved in the clashes in Nuristan or elsewhere in Afghanistan.

Pakistan also denied recruiting or training former Afghan security personnel or facilitating activities of the Islamic State or other militants.

Afghanistan's Defense Ministry refuted the Pakistani claims, presenting no evidence to substantiate their assertions, including identities, documents, communications, or forensic material. They criticized a circulating video on social media as featuring only unarmed individuals, deeming it a "pre-planned video shoot" orchestrated by Afghanistan's Taliban government.

Pakistan contends that the presence and activities of militant groups in Afghanistan have been documented by the United Nations and other international organizations. They accuse Kabul of attempting to fabricate a Pakistani connection to divert attention from the ongoing presence of militants within Afghanistan. Pakistan frequently accuses Afghanistan's Taliban government of allowing the Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from Afghan soil and launch attacks inside Pakistan. The TTP is distinct from Afghanistan's Taliban but shares an alliance with it.

Kabul maintains that it does not support the TTP and has rejected Pakistan's accusations. The latest tensions arose following Pakistani airstrikes on Monday on suspected militant hideouts in eastern Afghanistan. Pakistan claimed to have killed 28 militants during the strikes, while Afghan authorities reported the loss of three civilians.

The United Nations confirmed the latter figure. The Afghan Defense Ministry posited that many individuals involved in the alleged Nuristan plot were former members of Afghanistan's military who served under the previous government, which fell to the Taliban in August 2021. According to the ministry, Pakistani intelligence agencies had allegedly lured these individuals into Pakistan under false pretenses of asylum and high salaries.

Instead, they were transported to camps established by Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies, provided brief military training, and sent back into Afghanistan to sow discord in parts of Nuristan, which shares a border with Pakistan's northern Chitral district. The ministry urged "all young people and former military personnel deceived by Pakistani intelligence agencies" to avoid becoming further victims of alleged enemy conspiracies.