UN Report: Pakistan's Strikes Kill Mostly Afghan Women & Children

The UN body said that from late evening on February 26 to March 5, it verified and recorded 185 civilian casualties in Afghanistan due to indirect fire and aerial attacks linked to cross-border armed clashes with Pakistan.

The casualties included 56 civilians killed and 129 others injured.

According to the report, the majority of the victims were women and children. "The majority (55 per cent) of the recorded civilian casualties in this period were women and children," UNAMA said.

The UN mission noted that it continues to verify and record civilian casualties across Afghanistan as part of its Security Council mandate. It said the latest figures follow earlier concerns about the impact of cross-border hostilities on civilians.

"Further to its statement released on Tuesday, 3 March, and in line with its Security Council mandate, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) continues to verify and record incidents of civilian casualties inside Afghanistan as a result of cross-border armed clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan's de facto authorities," the report said.

One of the deadliest incidents took place in the Barmal district of Paktika Province on February 27.

"In one incident, on 27 February in Barmal district of Paktika province, airstrikes killed 14 civilians (four women, two girls, five boys and three men) and wounded six others (two women, one girl, two boys and one man)," the report said.

Islamabad had earlier claimed that its operations were aimed at "response to unprovoked aggression by the Afghan Taliban regime" across the border, according to Geo News.

However, the UN data shows that civilians, mostly women and children, have borne the brunt of the strikes and shelling.

The UN mission also said that the number of civilians killed in the latest clashes has already exceeded the civilian deaths recorded during earlier cross-border tensions between the two countries in 2025.

"The number of civilians killed from the latest cross-border armed clashes surpasses civilian fatalities verified and recorded by UNAMA during cross-border hostilities between Afghanistan and Pakistan from 10-17 October 2025, when 47 civilians were killed, and a further 456 were injured," the report noted.

The report also highlighted that the situation had already been serious in recent months.

"In the last three months of 2025, UNAMA documented at least 70 civilians killed and 478 injured in Afghanistan," it said.

The UN body further recorded additional casualties earlier this year. It said that between January 1 and February 22, at least 13 civilians were killed and 12 others injured in airstrikes and cross-border shelling in Nangarhar Province.

UNAMA said it continues to monitor and verify the situation on the ground and urged all sides to follow international humanitarian law. "UNAMA reiterates its call to all parties to implement protocols to prevent civilian casualties and meet their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians," the report said.

On February 26, Pakistan had launched "Operation Ghazab lil-Haq" (Righteous Fury) and declared what it described as "open war" against the Afghan Taliban after the initial airstrikes on Afghanistan. Islamabad, as per a Geo News report, had said the strikes targeted militant bases and came amid a rise in suicide bombings in Pakistan, claiming that the attackers were operating from Afghan territory.

However, Pakistan has not provided credible proof to justify its belligerent actions against Afghanistan. In the initial airstrikes, too, dozens of women and children were among those who bore the brunt of the attacks, as per a Reuters report.

In response, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan announced a retaliatory campaign, which they named "Radd-e-Zulm". The IEA said its operation would continue until what it described as Pakistan's attacks stop, according to TOLOnews.

- ANI