Pakistan has issued a forceful denial of allegations by Afghanistan’s Taliban government that Pakistani forces and intelligence agencies orchestrated violence in the remote Nuristan province, calling the claims entirely false and unsupported by evidence.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting released a detailed fact-check statement on Sunday, firmly rejecting accusations that Pakistan recruited former Afghan security personnel, trained militants, or facilitated Daesh operatives crossing into Afghanistan.
The controversy erupted after Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry claimed that armed groups linked to Daesh, allegedly supported by Pakistani militias, had crossed the Durand Line into Kamdesh district in Nuristan. Taliban forces said they killed 28 infiltrators and captured 32 others, with the remainder retreating back into Pakistani territory.
Islamabad responded by demanding proof. The ministry’s statement emphasized that no credible evidence—no names, documents, communications, forensic data, or independent verification—had been provided to back up the serious allegations.
Pakistani officials also dismissed a video circulating on social media that purportedly showed captured fighters. The ministry described the footage as showing only a handful of unarmed, poorly dressed individuals in what appeared to be a staged production by a regime known for spreading disinformation.
The statement turned the accusations back on Kabul, pointing to multiple United Nations reports and findings by international organizations documenting the presence of various terrorist networks operating freely inside Afghanistan. Pakistan argued that attempts to fabricate a Pakistani connection could not hide the reality that militant groups continue to find safe haven on Afghan soil.
Officials in Islamabad called the Taliban’s claims deeply ironic, given that terrorist organizations based in Afghanistan pose a direct and ongoing threat to Pakistan’s security. The ministry urged the Taliban government to take genuine, verifiable action against these groups and honor its commitments that Afghan territory would not be used to launch attacks against Pakistan or any other nation.
Pakistan also suggested the allegations were part of a broader pattern by the Taliban regime to deflect attention from internal problems, including widespread dissent and the harsh treatment of women, children, and minorities under its rule.
This is far from the first time the two neighbors have clashed over security accusations. The Taliban government has previously blamed Pakistan for cross-border airstrikes, weapons smuggling, and facilitating militant infiltration—all charges that Islamabad has consistently rejected.
Pakistani security officials maintain that the Afghan Taliban continues to provide sanctuary and support to terrorist groups, with some estimates suggesting that a significant majority of militants attacking Pakistan originate from Afghan territory.
The latest exchange underscores the fragile and increasingly hostile relationship between Pakistan and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, with mutual accusations of harboring terrorists threatening to destabilize an already volatile border region.
