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India condemns Pakistani air strikes in Afghanistan, backs Kabul’s sovereignty
According to Afghan media, 18 civilians, including women and children, were killed, and five others injured in Nangarhar province.
India on Sunday condemned Pakistan’s air strikes on Afghan territory that resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children, and extended its support for Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Pakistan’s military carried out air raids in Afghanistan early on Sunday that targeted “camps and hideouts” of armed groups behind recent attacks, including a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Islamabad. The Taliban regime’s defence ministry condemned the air strikes in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces and warned of an “appropriate and measured response”.
External affairs minister ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India “strongly condemns” Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghan territory that led to civilian casualties, including women and children, during the holy month of Ramzan.
“It is another attempt by Pakistan to externalise its internal failures,” he said. “India reiterates its support for Afghanistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.”
According to reports in the Afghan media, 18 civilians, including women and children, were killed, and five others injured in Nangarhar province. No casualties were reported in Paktika province.
Pakistan’s information and broadcasting Ministry said on social media that the military conducted “intelligence-based, selective operations” against seven camps and hideouts of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Taliban (TTP) and its affiliates. The Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP), which claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on the mosque in Islamabad, was also targeted in the air strikes.
The Pakistani ministry said it had “conclusive evidence” that recent attacks within the country were carried out by fighters acting at the “behest of their Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers”.
The Taliban’s defence ministry condemned the strikes that “hit a religious school and residential homes” in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces and said the attacks were “a breach of international law and the principles of good neighbourliness”. It said, “We will respond to these attacks in due course with a measured and appropriate response.”
The air strikes threatened a fragile ceasefire between Afghanistan and Pakistan that was negotiated after deadly border clashes that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians last October.
