ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires on Tuesday to protest alleged strikes by Pakistan this week that it says targeted civilian areas and public infrastructure, the Afghan foreign ministry said, as both sides blame each other for unprovoked aggression across their shared border.
Pakistan’s information ministry on Monday dismissed Afghan media reports that said Pakistani strikes had struck the Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani University and residential areas in the eastern Kunar province.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have been locked in a conflict since February, with both sides repeatedly engaging in cross-border clashes as well as conducting artillery, air and drone strikes against the other in their worst fighting in decades.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan summoned the Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Pakistan in Kabul, and conveyed its protest regarding strikes by Pakistani forces on civilian areas and public infrastructure, including a university in Kunar province, as well as along the Durand Line,” the Afghan foreign ministry said.
The Afghan foreign ministry said it rejects Pakistan’s allegations that the “recent escalation” was started by Afghanistan, stressing that the root causes of the situation must be investigated.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of providing safe havens for militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban or TTP. Kabul denies the allegation.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the “unprovoked aggression” by the Afghan Taliban and the Pakistani Taliban, also known as the TTP, at the border.
“Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi lauds the Pakistan Army for giving a prompt and decisive response to the enemy,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
Naqvi warned that Pakistan’s armed forces are fully prepared to respond effectively to any aggression by enemy forces.
‘TENS OF CIVILIANS KILLED’
Separately, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) issued a statement saying that several civilians were killed or injured in strikes in eastern Afghanistan on Monday.
“UNAMA has documented tens of civilians killed or injured yesterday afternoon in strikes on areas of Asadabad, eastern #Afghanistan, including a university,” the mission wrote on social media platform X.
UNAMA stressed that civilians and civilian sites, including educational facilities, must be protected at all times under the provisions of international law.
“We extend our condolences to the families of those killed and wish a swift recovery to those injured,” the statement added.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been fraught since Taliban officials took power in Kabul for a second time in 2021.
The latest escalation in violence comes after Pakistani, Chinese and Afghan officials held talks in Urumqi from Apr. 1 to 7, China’s foreign ministry said earlier this month.
The Chinese official said Afghanistan and Pakistan committed to resolving their differences and agreed to avoid actions that would “escalate or complicate the situation.”
The talks followed after both sides agreed to a days-long ceasefire in March on the occasion of Eid. Pakistan said it agreed to the temporary pause in fighting in line with Islamic values and to honor requests from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Türkiye.
However, Pakistan’s military said earlier this month it would continue strikes against militants, who wage attacks against Pakistan from Afghan soil, until their safe havens are completely eliminated in the neighboring country.
