Afghanistan’s defense ministry reported that its forces killed 28 fighters and wounded 32 after an armed group crossed from Pakistan into the eastern province of Nuristan on Saturday. Islamabad rejected the allegations as baseless, while cross-border tensions continue to escalate following recent airstrikes.
The Clash in Kamdesh District and Casualties Reported
The confrontation unfolded on Saturday when an armed group entered the remote Kamdesh district of Nuristan near the border with Pakistan. Afghanistan’s defense ministry stated that the force included Islamic State militants intending to carry out attacks. Afghan forces launched an operation in response, resulting in 28 fighters killed and 32 wounded, with surviving combatants fleeing back across the frontier toward Pakistani militia positions, according to the Afghan account released on Sunday.
This offensive represents the initial major assault undertaken in Nuristan by the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) since the 2021-2022 conflict in Panjshir. Rejecting the official narrative, the AFF asserted that they actually repelled an infantry and drone attack by the Taliban, resulting in the deaths of five Taliban security personnel. The casualty figures from both sides could not be independently verified.
Kabul’s Allegations of State Involvement and Former Security Personnel
Kabul leveled direct accusations against Islamabad, alleging that Pakistani intelligence and militias coordinated with the crossing fighters. The defense ministry stated that the majority of the armed individuals involved were former members of Afghanistan’s military who served under the government ousted in August 2021. The Afghan Defense Ministry detailed that intelligence operatives had previously brought these former personnel to Pakistan under the promise of arranging foreign asylum and high salaries before dispatching them toward Nuristan. Asserting that the fighters crossed into the isolated Kamdesh district from Pakistan, Kabul accused Islamabad of direct backing for the insurgents and called on neighboring nations to remain alert to what it termed Pakistan’s exporting conflict.
Islamabad Categorically Rejects Fabrication Claims
Pakistan’s information ministry pushed back firmly against the accusations, describing them in a post on X as frivolous, baseless and devoid of any truth.
Within that same social media statement, the ministry refuted any involvement of its intelligence agencies or security forces in the Nuristan clashes, dismissed claims that it had trained or recruited former Afghan personnel, and denied facilitating the Islamic State or other militant factions inside Afghanistan. The information ministry’s “fact-check” account on X stated: “Pakistan categorically rejects the fabricated claims of involvement by its security forces or intelligence agencies in any internal clashes in Nuristan or elsewhere in Afghanistan, including allegations of recruiting or training former Afghan security personnel or facilitating Daesh or any other terrorist group operating in Afghanistan.” The information ministry pointed out that not a shred of evidence
has been produced to substantiate Pakistan’s involvement.
A Broader Border Crisis and Recent Airstrikes
The clash in Nuristan follows a week of heightened military exchanges along the Durand Line. Islamabad carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan, saying it had targeted fighters. Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of sheltering fighters who attack its territory, a charge Kabul denies. Fresh friction erupted between Afghan and Pakistani forces in the Gulistan sector along the Durand Line a few days prior to this incident. Afghanistan does not recognize its frontier with Pakistan as an international border, sharing a 2,611-kilometer boundary known as the Durand Line. Longstanding disputes regarding cross-border militant activity have intensified recently between Pakistan and Afghanistan, exacerbated by cross-border skirmishes and Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan soil.