The Kabul Tribune (KT)— Taliban’s Defense Ministry claimed Sunday that its forces killed 28 fighters and wounded 32 others in eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province after a group it said included Daesh militants crossed the border from Pakistan.
The ministry alleged that Pakistani militias supported the
fighters and said most of those who crossed were former members of
Afghanistan’s security forces.
The Taliban’s claim amounts to a direct accusation of
Pakistani state involvement in an armed incursion. Pakistan has repeatedly
accused the Taliban of sheltering militants who carry out attacks inside
Pakistan, a charge the Taliban denies.
According to the Taliban’s Defense Ministry, the group
crossed into Kamdesh district, near the Pakistani border, on Saturday with the
intention of carrying out attacks. Taliban forces launched an operation, after
which surviving fighters fled back across the border toward positions held by
Pakistani militias, the ministry said.
The ministry alleged that Pakistani armed personnel and
militia members coordinated with the fighters but withdrew after fighting
began.
It also accused Pakistani intelligence officials of taking
former Afghan security personnel to Pakistan under the pretext of providing
them assistance, training them and later sending them toward Nuristan.
The allegations could not immediately be independently
verified, and Pakistan did not immediately comment on the Taliban’s claims.
The latest incident comes less than a week after Pakistan
conducted airstrikes inside Afghanistan on Sept. 21. Islamabad said the strikes
targeted militants and killed 28 fighters.
Taliban officials said civilians were among those killed.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan confirmed three civilian deaths.
Pakistan has not yet responded to the Taliban’s statement.
Relations between Pakistan and the Taliban authorities in
Afghanistan have deteriorated over accusations that militants use Afghan
territory to launch attacks inside Pakistan. The Taliban has repeatedly
rejected allegations that it allows armed groups to operate against Pakistan from
Afghan soil.
The latest fighting adds to tensions along the two
countries’ long and often volatile border, where both sides have traded
accusations over militant activity and cross-border attacks.
