ISLAMABAD: Pakistan rejects Taliban allegations that tie its security forces and intelligence agencies to violence in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province. Officials described the claims as “frivolous, baseless and devoid of any truth” on Sunday.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting released a fact-check statement responding to the accusations. These included claims that Pakistani agencies had recruited or trained former Afghan security personnel, or helped Daesh or any other terrorist group active in Afghanistan.
No Evidence Offered, Says Ministry
The statement said no proof had been presented to back the accusations. “Not a shred of evidence has been produced to substantiate Pakistan’s involvement — no identities, documents, communications, forensic evidence or independent verification,” it said.
The fact-check was a reply to a statement from the Afghan Taliban’s Ministry of Defence. That statement alleged that several Daesh-affiliated groups, along with what it called elements of subversion, had entered the Kamdesh district of Nuristan across the Durand Line with backing from Pakistani militias.
According to the Taliban, their forces killed 28 of the alleged infiltrators and captured 32 alive. The remainder, they said, retreated across the Durand Line.
Video Called a Staged Shoot
Pakistan’s ministry also dismissed a video shared on social media in support of the Taliban’s version of events. It said the footage showed only a few unarmed men who were neither properly dressed nor equipped, and appeared to be a pre-planned shoot by a regime “well known for lies and fabricated claims.”
The ministry pointed to successive reports by the United Nations and other neutral international bodies. These, it said, document the presence and activities of multiple terrorist groups inside Afghanistan. Efforts to invent a Pakistani link, it argued, cannot hide the fact that such groups continue to find sanctuary and room to grow on Afghan soil.
Islamabad Turns the Accusation Around
“It is particularly ironic for the Afghan Taliban regime to accuse Pakistan of supporting terrorism while terrorist organisations operating from Afghanistan continue to pose a direct threat to Pakistan and regional security,” the statement said.
Pakistan urged the Taliban authorities to take credible and verifiable action against terrorist groups operating from Afghan territory. It also called on them to honour their commitment that Afghan soil would not be used for terrorism against Pakistan or any other country, rather than shifting blame through fabricated allegations.
The ministry added that the Taliban’s claims reflect an attempt to externalise internal dissent and to cover up the regime’s oppression of women, children and minorities.
Foreign Office Summons Afghan Envoy Over Airspace Violation
Separately, the Foreign Office summoned Afghan Ambassador Sardar Ahmad Shakib and delivered a formal demarche over an alleged violation of Pakistani airspace. A Foreign Office spokesperson said the protest concerned a drone incident on September 23.
The spokesperson said the demarche was conveyed to the Afghan side on Saturday, formally relaying Pakistan’s concerns about the incident.
