Afghanistan Says 28 Fighters Killed After Crossing from Pakistan; Islamabad Denies Ties

Afghan Defense Ministry Reports Clash in Nuristan Province

Afghanistan’s defense ministry said on Sunday that its forces had killed 28 fighters and wounded 32 others in the eastern province of Nuristan after a group it described as including ISIS militants crossed from neighboring Pakistan.

The ministry alleged that Pakistani militias had supported the fighters and that most of them were former Afghan government security personnel. According to the statement, the group crossed into Kamdesh, a district of Nuristan near the Pakistani border, on Saturday with the intention of carrying out attacks. Afghan forces launched an operation in response, and the surviving fighters fled back across the border toward Pakistani militia positions, the ministry said.

Pakistan Rejects Allegations as “Frivolous and Baseless”

Pakistan’s information ministry rejected the allegations, describing them in a post on X as “frivolous, baseless and devoid of any truth.”

In the same post, Islamabad denied that its security forces or intelligence agencies were involved in the clashes in Nuristan, had recruited or trained former Afghan security personnel, or had facilitated ISIS or other militant groups operating in Afghanistan.

The information ministry said Afghanistan had produced no evidence of Pakistani involvement. It also disputed a video circulating on social media that it said was being used to support the allegations, describing the footage as staged. Reuters could not independently verify the video.

A Direct Allegation of State Involvement

Kabul’s claim that Pakistani intelligence trained and sent former Afghan security personnel across the border amounts to a direct allegation of state involvement in an armed incursion. The Afghan defense ministry specifically accused Pakistani intelligence of taking former Afghan security personnel to Pakistan under the pretext of offering them assistance, training them, and then sending them toward Nuristan.

The ministry further alleged that Pakistani armed personnel and militia members had coordinated with the fighters but withdrew when fighting began.

Incident Follows Pakistani Airstrikes Inside Afghanistan

The clash comes less than a week after Pakistan launched airstrikes inside Afghanistan on Sept. 21. Islamabad said the strikes targeted militants and killed 28 fighters. Afghan officials, however, said civilians were killed in the strikes, and the United Nations mission in Afghanistan confirmed three civilian deaths.

The two neighbors have long traded accusations over cross-border militancy. Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of sheltering fighters who attack its territory, a charge Kabul denies. Afghanistan has in turn accused Pakistan of harboring and supporting militant groups an allegation Islamabad consistently rejects.

Verification Challenges

Reuters could not independently verify the Afghan defense ministry’s account of the Nuristan clash or its casualty figures. The remote and mountainous terrain of Nuristan, which borders Pakistan’s Chitral region, makes independent reporting from the area difficult.

The competing narratives from Kabul and Islamabad reflect the deep mistrust between the two governments and the challenges of establishing accountability for cross-border violence in a region where militant groups operate across porous frontiers.