Afghanistan says 41 fighters crossing from Pakistan killed in Nuristan
Afghanistan's defence ministry has said its forces killed more than 40 fighters it described as insurgents who crossed into the country from neighbouring Pakistan, and captured dozens more over three days of repeated clashes along the border.
In a statement issued late on Tuesday night, the ministry said the fighters included members of the Islamic State group. It said 41 were killed and 62 were captured in Kamdesh district of the north-eastern province of Nuristan between Sunday and Tuesday.
The ministry said the fighters had crossed into Afghanistan "with the support" of Pakistan. There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, though its Ministry of Information has rejected similar claims in the past. Both sides have made claims in recent weeks of killing fighters on the other side of the border, but the claims could not be independently confirmed.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been rising, with cross-border fighting and Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan adding to longstanding disputes over militant activity along the frontier. The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan said last week that it had documented more than 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan from cross-border violence so far this year.
The Afghan ministry said, "Ministry of Defence's security and defense forces will not permit anyone to undermine security in the country. If anyone attempts to do so again, they will face an even greater response." Afghanistan's foreign ministry also said it had summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires on Tuesday and handed him a letter of protest over "the crossing of disruptive armed elements" across the border. It accused Islamabad of harbouring recruitment and training camps for fighters and then sending them across the border.
Pakistan has frequently accused Afghanistan's Taliban government of allowing the Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, to operate from Afghan territory and carry out attacks inside Pakistan. The TTP is separate from Afghanistan's Taliban but is allied with it. Kabul denies giving the group safe haven and has rejected Pakistan's accusations. Kabul has also accused Pakistan of fomenting unrest in Afghanistan, and the defence ministry recently said Islamabad was training and sending across the border fighters who were former members of Afghanistan's military under the previous government ousted when the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Afghanistan does not recognise its frontier with Pakistan as an international border. The two countries share a boundary of more than 2,600 km known as the Durand Line, as tensions continue to deepen along the border.
