Afghanistan says 28 fighters killed after Nuristan crossing from Pakistan

Afghanistan's defence ministry says its forces killed 28 fighters and wounded 32 after armed groups crossed into eastern Nuristan from Pakistan, a claim reported by Reuters and rejected by Islamabad. Reuters said it could not independently verify the ministry's account or the casualty figures.

In an English statement headed "Ministry of Defense Statement: Several Activities of Country's Enemy, Nuristan", the Afghan ministry said the incident took place near Kamdesh district. It alleged that groups affiliated with the Islamic State and the National Resistance Front crossed the Durand Line "with the support and encouragement" of Pakistani militias, and said Afghan forces launched operations against them.

The ministry's own statement used different wording for the second figure, saying 32 were captured alive rather than wounded. That discrepancy is retained here with attribution.

The Afghan ministry further alleged that Pakistani militias, Pakistani-affiliated arbakai forces and Daesh elements were present in coordination with the groups, but said they fled when fighting began. It also said that most of the people used in the alleged operation were former personnel of Afghanistan's previous government security forces. These remain allegations from Kabul, not independently established facts.

Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting rejected the accusation, calling it "frivolous, baseless and devoid of any truth". Islamabad denied that its security forces or intelligence agencies were involved, rejected claims that it recruited or trained former Afghan personnel, and denied facilitating Islamic State activity. Pakistan also disputed video material circulating in connection with the episode.

The competing accounts arrive amid heightened tension along the Afghanistan–Pakistan frontier. Reuters reported that the reported crossing occurred in Nuristan's Kamdesh district and that Pakistan had not initially responded to the Afghan defence ministry's claim; a subsequent official Pakistani response denied the allegations. Neither side's account should be treated as independently verified solely because it appears in an official statement.

Video footage reviewed for this report has not been independently authenticated, geolocated or dated, and this report does not present it as proof of the identity of people shown, the location of the fighting or the reported casualty figures. One non-graphic still is used as the hero image; the video itself is not embedded in the article.

The immediate questions are whether Kabul publishes further evidence, whether independent observers can verify the location and sequence of events, and whether Islamabad's denial is followed by a fuller account from its military. Until those questions are answered, the confirmed news is that Afghanistan has made the claim, Reuters has reported the figures with an explicit verification caveat, and Pakistan has rejected the accusation.