AFGHANISTAN SAYS IT KILLED 28 FIGHTERS FROM PAKISTAN IN NURISTAN

Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence said its forces killed 28 fighters and wounded 32 others in the eastern province of Nuristan on Sunday, after the group crossed the border from Pakistan. The Taliban's defence ministry confirmed the clashes in a statement posted to social media. It alleged that most of the fighters were former Afghan government security personnel recruited by Pakistan's intelligence services with promises of asylum and paid work abroad. The ministry also claimed the group included fighters from ISIL (ISIS), whom it said were supported by Pakistani militias.

Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting rejected the allegations, calling them "frivolous, baseless and devoid of any truth" in a post on social media. Pakistan denied that its security forces or intelligence agencies were involved in the clashes in Nuristan, denied recruiting or training former Afghan security personnel, and denied facilitating ISIL or other armed groups operating in Afghanistan. Pakistan's information ministry said the Taliban should take "credible and verifiable action" against groups operating from Afghan territory and should stop what it called attempts to "deflect responsibility through fabricated accusations."

The exchange follows a period of rising tension between the two governments. Last week, Pakistan carried out air strikes on ten locations in Afghanistan that it said were used to store and launch drones, some of which it said had been used in cross-border attacks. Neither side has set out further steps following Sunday's clashes, and the competing accounts of who was responsible for the fighters in Nuristan remain unresolved.