- India condemned Pakistan’s airstrikes in Afghanistan as reckless and aggressive acts
- Taliban reported 36 civilians killed and 163 wounded in Pakistan’s double tap attacks
- Pakistan claimed 29 militants killed linked to Karachi attack, Afghan officials denied this
India has condemned Pakistan's airstrikes in Afghanistan over the weekend, calling them "reckless" and a "blatant act of aggression" threatening regional peace. The Taliban government in Kabul has said Islamabad's 'double tab' attacks had hit three eastern provinces, killing 36 civilians and wounding 163.
Pakistani authorities, meanwhile, placed the casualties at 29, claiming those killed in the strikes were 'militants' associated with the deadly weekend assault in Karachi, although Afghan authorities have repeatedly denied their territory harbours attackers.
What India Said
In a statement, the foreign ministry said that India "strongly condemns" the Pakistani airstrikes conducted on Afghan territory in the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, which Islamabad claimed targeted terrorist hideouts. The statement said the attack resulted in several civilian casualties, including women and children.
"This blatant act of aggression by Pakistan is an assault on Afghanistan's sovereignty and a direct threat to regional peace and stability. It reflects Pakistan's persistent pattern of reckless behaviour and its futile attempt to externalise internal failures through desperate acts of violence beyond its borders," the statement read.
India also conveyed its condolences to Afghan families that have lost loved ones and wished early recovery to those injured, while reiterating its unwavering support for Afghanistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Attack
Pakistan launched its deadliest attack on Afghanistan in months, with Islamabad saying on Monday it killed dozens of militants as the Afghan government reported civilian casualties. The nighttime strikes were the latest flare-up of violence between the neighbours whose relationship has been fraught since 2021, when the Taliban government took power in Kabul, and followed a weeks-long war that erupted in February.
A resident of Paktia province, Adam Khan, told news agency AFP that he "cannot put into words the condition of the children I saw at the hospital, or the screams of their parents and siblings".
Those killed in one of the strikes "were innocent civilians, including children, elderly people and women" sleeping in a house, the 63-year-old said.
In neighbouring Paktika province, community leader Amin Mangal told AFP a Pakistani strike on a house killed six people. "They were very poor and helpless, had no working man in the household, and were living with the help of charity," Mangal said.
The Pakistani operation along the border is the deadliest since March, when an attack on a drug treatment centre in Kabul killed hundreds according to the United Nations. Pakistan's information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the latest offensive targeted Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
'Double-Tap' Attack
Hamdullah Fitrat, Afghanistan's deputy government spokesman, said the Paktia site "was bombed for a second time" in an unethical double-tap bombing after residents rushed to rescue people.
Pakistan's military and the prime minister's office did not respond to an AFP request to comment on the allegation.
