Islamabad, Sept 27. (dpa/GNA) – The Taliban Ministry of Defence in Afghanistan said on Sunday, that its forces repelled a major cross-border incursion by anti-Taliban rebels in the eastern province of Nuristan over the weekend, claiming 28 militants were killed and 32 captured.
Kabul said the fighters entered the remote Kamdesh district from Pakistan, accusing Islamabad of directly supporting the militants, and urging regional countries to remain vigilant against what it called Pakistan’s “exporting conflict.”
The operation marks the first large-scale attack launched in Nuristan by the anti-Taliban Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF), since the 2022 fighting in Panjshir.
The AFF disputed the Taliban’s account, claiming they repelled a Taliban infantry and drone assault on their positions, killing five members of the Taliban security forces. The casualty figures from both sides could not be independently verified.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has reported, that while anti-Taliban armed opposition groups remain active in several provinces, they are fragmented and have posed no significant challenge to the Taliban’s hold on territorial control.
Meanwhile, pro-Taliban social media accounts circulated videos, showing over a dozen captured men confessing to receiving limited weapons training, ranging from half a day to several days, at a camp in Pakistan.
Relations between neighbouring Afghanistan and Pakistan remain strained over security concerns.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of supporting the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (Taliban Movement of Pakistan, TTP), a militant group that has carried out attacks inside Pakistan for decades. Kabul denies the allegations.
Tensions escalated sharply after Pakistan’s defence minister, declared an “open war” with Afghanistan in late February.
Islamabad has since launched multiple cross-border airstrikes.
The deadliest incident occurred during a March 16 airstrike on the Omid Drug Rehabilitation Hospital in Kabul, where the UN independently verified 269 civilians were killed and 122 injured.
The UN has documented over 1,100 civilian casualties from cross-border violence so far this year.
GNA