Afghanistan’s defense ministry claims forces killed 41 insurgents crossing from Pakistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s defense ministry says its forces have killed more than 40 fighters it described as insurgents who crossed into the country from neighboring Pakistan, and captured dozens more over three days amid repeated clashes along the tense border.

The insurgents included members of the Islamic State group, the ministry said in a statement issued late Tuesday night. It said it had killed 41 and captured another 62 in the Kamdesh district of the northeastern province of Nuristan from Sunday to Tuesday.

The defense ministry said the fighters had crossed into Afghanistan “with the support” of Pakistan.

There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, but 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. The claims could not be independently confirmed.

Tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been spiraling, with cross-border fighting and Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan adding to longstanding disputes over militant activity along the border. The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan said last week it had documented over 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan from cross-border violence so far this year.

The “Ministry of Defense’s security and defense forces will not permit anyone to undermine security in the country,” the Afghan ministry added in its statement. “If anyone attempts to do so again, they will face an even greater response.”

Afghanistan's foreign ministry summoned Pakistan's chargé d’affaires on Tuesday to hand him a letter of protest over “the crossing of disruptive armed elements" across the border, the ministry said. It accused Islamabad of harboring recruitment and training camps for fighters it then sends across the border.

Pakistan frequently accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of allowing the Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, 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 providing the group a safe haven and has rejected Pakistan’s accusations.

Kabul also accuses Pakistan of fomenting unrest within Afghanistan. The defense ministry recently accused Islamabad of training and sending over the border fighters who were former members of Afghanistan’s military who served under the previous government that was ousted when the Taliban seized power in 2021.

Afghanistan does not recognize its frontier with Pakistan as an international border. The countries share a more than 2,600-kilometer (1,620-mile) long boundary known as the Durand Line.

Elena Becatoros contributed from Kabul, Afghanistan