India on Sunday strongly condemned Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghan territory, saying the attacks caused civilian casualties, including women and children, during the holy month of Ramadan.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “India strongly condemns Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghan territory that have resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children, during the holy month of Ramadan.”
MEA added, “It is another attempt by Pakistan to externalise its internal failures. India reiterates its support for Afghanistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.”
According to a report by Associated Press, Pakistan’s military said it killed at least 70 militants in early Sunday strikes along the border with Afghanistan, targeting what it described as hideouts of Pakistani fighters responsible for recent attacks inside the country, according to the deputy interior minister.
Kabul rejected the assertion.
Talal Chaudhry, Pakistan’s deputy interior minister, provided no evidence for the claim in an interview with Geo News that at least 70 militants were killed. State-run media later reported that the death toll had risen to 80, AP reported.
The Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement that “various civilian areas” in the provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika in eastern Afghanistan were hit, including a religious madrassa and multiple homes. The statement called the strikes a violation of Afghanistan’s airspace and sovereignty.
Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on X the attacks “killed and wounded dozens, including women and children.” He said Pakistan’s claim of killing 70 militants was “inaccurate.”
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Pakistan’s ambassador to Kabul to protest the Pakistani strikes. In a statement, the ministry said protecting Afghanistan’s territory is the Islamic Emirate’s “Sharia responsibility” and warned that Pakistan would be responsible for the consequences of such attacks.
Pakistan blames Afghans for suicide bombings
Militant attacks have increased sharply in Pakistan in recent years, with much of the violence attributed to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and banned Baloch separatist groups. The TTP is distinct from, but closely aligned with, Afghanistan’s Taliban. Islamabad alleges that the TTP operates from Afghan territory, an accusation both the group and Kabul reject, AP reported.
Hours before the Pakistani strikes, a suicide bomber targeted a security convoy in the border district of Bannu in Pakistan’s northwest, killing two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel. Pakistan’s military warned after the attack that it would not “exercise any restraint” and that operations against those responsible would press on, AP reported.
Another suicide bomber, backed by gunmen, rammed an explosives-laden vehicle last week into the wall of a security post in Bajaur district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, killing 11 soldiers and a child. Pakistani authorities later said the attacker was an Afghan national, AP reported.
Tarar said Pakistan had “conclusive evidence” that the recent attacks, including a suicide bombing that targeted a Shiite mosque in Islamabad and killed 31 worshippers earlier this month, were carried out by militants acting on the “behest of their Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers.”
He said Pakistan had repeatedly urged Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to take verifiable steps to prevent militant groups from using Afghan territory to launch attacks in Pakistan, but alleged that no substantive action had been taken. Tarar also asked the international community to press Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities to uphold their commitments under the Doha agreement not to allow their soil to be used against other countries.
In Islamabad, security analyst Abdullah Khan said the Pakistani strikes suggest that Qatari, Turkish, and even Saudi-led mediations have failed to resolve tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. “These strikes are likely to further escalate the situation,” he said.
A Qatari-brokered ceasefire between Islamabad and Kabul was reached after deadly border clashes in October that left dozens of soldiers, civilians, and suspected militants dead. The fighting erupted following explosions in Kabul that Afghan officials blamed on Pakistan. In response, Islamabad carried out strikes deep inside Afghanistan, saying it was targeting militant hideouts.
Although the truce has largely held, multiple rounds of talks in Istanbul in November did not yield a formal agreement, and ties between the two sides remain tense.
(With inputs from AP)
