Taliban and Freedom Front give conflicting tolls after Kamdesh clashes
The Taliban defence ministry has announced the end of an operation in Kamdesh, Nuristan, and claimed that 41 armed opponents were killed and 62 others detained. The figures given by the two sides on the casualties and outcome of the clashes differ, and no independent source has confirmed the claims.
On Tuesday, Sept. 29, the ministry described those killed and detained as “ISIS and seditionists,” and said they had entered the Kamdesh area with Pakistani support. The Taliban administration also claimed that some of those involved in the fighting were members of the former Afghan government’s forces who had been trained and organised in Pakistan.
The clashes began several days earlier after Taliban forces attacked positions of the Afghanistan Freedom Front. The front said Taliban forces used drones and infantry to strike its positions, but were met with resistance and a counterattack. The Freedom Front claimed that 37 Taliban members were killed and 24 others wounded in the fighting, and that it had seized a number of Taliban checkpoints and areas under Taliban control.
The Taliban defence ministry had earlier said 28 opponents were killed and 32 detained, and that the remaining individuals had fled the area. The ministry’s latest figures for the dead and detained show an increase from its initial numbers.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has rejected allegations that it supported armed opponents, calling them “baseless and absurd.” Pakistani officials have said there is no evidence of the country’s involvement in the recent clashes in Nuristan.
