41 Killed, 62 Captured As Afghanistan Reports Fresh Clashes Near Pakistan

Afghanistan’s defence ministry said its forces killed 41 insurgents and captured 62 others who allegedly crossed into the country from Pakistan over three days, as tensions continued to escalate along the two countries’ border.

The ministry said the fighters were killed and captured in the Kamdesh district of northeastern Nuristan province between Sunday and Tuesday. It claimed some of those killed were members of the Islamic State group and accused the fighters of crossing into Afghanistan “with the support” of Pakistan.

Pakistan did not immediately comment on the latest allegations. Its Ministry of Information has rejected similar claims in the past. The rival claims by Afghanistan and Pakistan could not be independently verified.

Tensions between the two neighbours have been spiralling in recent weeks, with repeated cross-border clashes 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 Ministry of Defence's security and defense forces will not permit anyone to undermine security in the country,” Afghanistan’s defence ministry said in its statement. “If anyone attempts to do so again, they will face an even greater response.”

Afghanistan’s foreign ministry also summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires on Tuesday and handed him a letter of protest over what it described as “the crossing of disruptive armed elements” across the border. Kabul accused Islamabad of harbouring recruitment and training camps for fighters before sending them into Afghanistan.

Pakistan, meanwhile, has frequently accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of allowing the Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from Afghan territory and launch attacks inside Pakistan. The TTP is separate from Afghanistan’s Taliban but is allied with it.

Kabul denies providing the group a safe haven and rejects Pakistan’s allegations. Afghanistan has instead accused Pakistan of fomenting unrest inside the country.

The Afghan defence ministry recently accused Islamabad of training and sending fighters across the border who were former members of Afghanistan’s military under the previous government, which was ousted after the Taliban seized power in 2021.

Afghanistan also does not recognise its frontier with Pakistan as an international border. The two countries share a more than 2,600-km-long boundary known as the Durand Line.