Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence announced that its forces killed 28 fighters in the eastern province of Nuristan during clashes that occurred on Sunday. The defence ministry stated that these individuals had crossed the border from Pakistan and engaged Taliban forces in combat.
According to the Afghan defence ministry, most of the fighters were described as former personnel from Afghanistan’s previous government security apparatus who had been recruited by Pakistan’s intelligence services with incentives including asylum offers and lucrative employment opportunities abroad. The ministry also alleged that the group included fighters affiliated with ISIL who were supported by Pakistani militias.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting categorically rejected these allegations, characterizing them as unfounded. A statement from the Pakistani information ministry denied that Pakistani security forces or intelligence agencies were involved in the Nuristan clashes, recruited or trained former Afghan security personnel, or provided assistance to ISIL or other armed groups operating in Afghanistan.
The Pakistani ministry further called on the Taliban to take concrete action against what it described as terrorist organizations operating from Afghan territory. Pakistan contended that Afghanistan bears responsibility for preventing its soil from being used for attacks against Pakistan or other nations, rather than making what it characterized as false accusations.
The incident represents an escalation in tensions between the two countries. Earlier in the week, Pakistan conducted air strikes on September 21 targeting locations it said were used to store and launch drones employed in cross-border attacks. Last week on Thursday, Pakistani air strikes killed at least four people according to Afghan officials, who vowed to mount a proportional response. Pakistan has maintained that Afghanistan harbors fighters conducting attacks on Pakistani territory, allegations that Kabul has repeatedly denied.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI