Nuristan Fighting Deepens Pakistan-Afghanistan Tensions as Taliban Accuses Islamabad

Islamabad / Kabul — September 29, 2026 — Fighting between the Taliban and the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) resumed Tuesday in Kamdesh district of Nuristan, with Afghan sources reporting continuing clashes and both sides issuing conflicting accounts of casualties and battlefield developments. (Afghanistan International)

The fighting initially began on Saturday and has continued for several days. Afghanistan International reported that the latest clashes began with a Taliban attack on Tuesday morning. Videos received by the outlet reportedly show fighting in the area, although the battlefield footage and casualty claims have not been independently verified. (Afghanistan International)

The Taliban and the AFF have offered sharply different accounts of the losses. A Taliban police spokesman in Nuristan claimed 38 opposition fighters had been killed and 60 detained during three days of fighting. The AFF, meanwhile, claimed that 37 Taliban members were killed and another 24 wounded, while also claiming that its forces had taken several Taliban positions. None of these casualty or territorial claims has been independently verified. (Nimruz TV)

The fighting has also become directly connected to the worsening relationship between Kabul and Islamabad. Taliban authorities have accused Pakistan of helping armed elements cross the Durand Line into Nuristan and have alleged that Pakistan provided assistance and guidance to fighters involved in the clashes. The Taliban Foreign Ministry said it summoned Pakistan's chargé d'affaires in Kabul to lodge a formal protest. (Afghanistan International)

Pakistan has rejected the allegations. Islamabad says the Taliban has provided no evidence that Pakistani security or intelligence agencies were involved in recruiting, training or sending fighters into Nuristan. Pakistani authorities have also rejected claims that Islamabad facilitated Daesh or other militant groups operating in Afghanistan. (The Nation)

The dispute comes less than a week after Afghanistan reported that 28 fighters had been killed and 32 wounded or captured in an earlier Nuristan operation. Afghan authorities said the fighters included Islamic State-linked elements that had crossed from Pakistan and accused Pakistani-linked forces of supporting them. Pakistan has denied involvement. (Reuters)

The Nuristan confrontation is therefore taking place against a much broader deterioration in Islamabad-Kabul relations. Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghan territory of being used by militant groups, particularly the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), while the Taliban government has rejected Pakistan's accusations and increasingly accused Islamabad of supporting armed groups operating inside Afghanistan. (Council on Foreign Relations)

The latest Nuristan fighting could further complicate an already fragile security situation along the two countries' frontier. Pakistan has conducted strikes inside Afghanistan in recent days following drone attacks and other security incidents, while Kabul has disputed Islamabad's justification for those operations. (Associated Press)

For now, the actual scale of the Nuristan fighting remains uncertain. Independent reporting confirms that serious clashes have occurred in Kamdesh, but the competing claims over casualties, captured fighters, territorial control and alleged Pakistani involvement remain disputed.

The immediate significance for Pakistan is that the Nuristan fighting has moved beyond an internal Afghan security confrontation and become another point of direct diplomatic confrontation between Islamabad and Kabul.