Afghanistan-Pakistan tensions escalate as Kabul says 28 fighters were killed in Nuristan, while Islamabad denies supporting militants.
The Afghan administration on Sunday said that its forces killed at least 28 fighters and captured 32 others in the eastern province of Nuristan, after the Taliban-led Defence Ministry claimed the group included Islamic State militants who crossed from Pakistan.
The ministry alleged that most of the militants were former Afghan government security personnel, and that Pakistani militias had supported the fighters.
Residents walk through the rubble after what Taliban officials said were Pakistani airstrikes a day earlier that killed civilians, including children, in the village of Mandokhail, Chamkani district, Paktia province, Afghanistan. (AP Photo)
Afghanistan-Pakistan tensions escalate
Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have soared in recent weeks, with cross-border fighting and the Pakistan military’s airstrikes on Kabul’s territory adding to the dispute between the two neighbouring nations over militant activity along their respective borders. However, Pakistan’s information ministry has denied the claims made by Afghanistan, describing them as “frivolous, baseless and devoid of any truth” in a post on X.
The ministry rejected Kabul’s claims that its intelligence agencies or security forces were involved in an attack in Nuristan, trained ex-Afghan security officers, or facilitated the Islamic State or any other militant groups in Afghanistan. But the Taliban-led Afghan administration has said that Islamabad sponsored the former Afghan security personnel and that it is a direct allegation of “state involvement in an armed incursion,” Reuters reported.
How Taliban-Pakistan ties unravelled
When the United States left Afghanistan in August 2021, it led the Taliban to return to power in the country, and Islamabad welcomed the development, as it considered the Taliban-led government a potential ally. Then Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan praised the return of the Taliban, saying Afghans had “broken the shackles of slavery.”
But Islamabad’s affirmative beliefs turned upside down as militants started widening insurgencies in Pakistan’s southwest and northwest regions. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led country now accuses Kabul of orchestrating the attacks by providing funds and ammunition to militants and a haven in Afghanistan. However, the Afghan Taliban has outright rejected the allegations.
Cross-border strikes deepen crisis
A Reuters report stated that “frustration” in the corridors of Islamabad led to a cross-border fighting when Pakistani forces launched air strikes on the Afghan capital Kabul in October last year, targeting the chief of Pakistani Taliban militant group, Pakistan’s security officials had said at the time.
The latest escalation in violence between the two neighbours triggered after two attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern region killed at least 30 people, including 15 police officials and 6 soldiers last week. Another strike was reported at a police station in northwestern Kohat district last Friday, wherein at least 8 militants, including suicide bombers, killed 24 people, including 15 police officials, Reuters reported.
