KABUL: The Taliban Defense Ministry has confirmed clashes with an armed opposition group in Kamdesh district of Nuristan province, claiming that 28 members of the opposing group were killed and 32 others captured.
In a statement issued on September 27, the ministry said its forces had “severely suppressed” what it described as enemy movements. Taliban authorities identified those involved as Daesh/ISKP members and other armed opponents, while alleging that they had received support from Pakistan.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) had described the fighting a day earlier, saying Taliban forces attacked its positions in Kamdesh using ground troops and drones. The group claimed its fighters resisted the assault and launched a counterattack, inflicting casualties on Taliban forces.
The AFF also claimed that at least five Taliban fighters were killed and that its forces captured several Taliban checkpoints in parts of Kamdesh and neighbouring Nari district in Kunar. These claims have not been independently verified.
The Taliban Defense Ministry further alleged that some of the fighters were former members of Afghanistan’s security forces who had been recruited and trained with assistance from Pakistan before being sent to Nuristan. It also claimed that Pakistani fighters and Daesh members were present during the clashes. The ministry did not provide independent evidence supporting these allegations.
The competing accounts come amid continued armed activity by anti-Taliban groups, including the AFF and National Resistance Front, in several parts of Afghanistan. Casualty figures, territorial claims and details of individual operations remain difficult to independently verify.