India Slams Pakistan's Ramadan Airstrikes in Afghanistan at UN Forum

Afghanistan said that around 400 people lost their lives in an airstrike at a treatment centre for drug addicts in Kabul on Monday evening. Pakistan, as per media reports, has however, rejected the claim.

Addressing the UN General Assembly commemoration of the 'International Day to Combat Islamophobia' on Monday, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish said, "India's western neighbour is an excellent example of fabricating imaginative tales of Islamophobia in their neighbourhood. One wonders what would brutal repression of Ahmadiyyas in this country be termed, or the large-scale refoulement of the helpless Afghans or air-bombing campaigns in this holy month of Ramadan?"

He said, "I stress that it is important for the UN to take note of the rising trend and dangers of weaponising religious identity and instrumentalising it to serve narrow political ends, by state and non-state actors alike."

Around 400 people were killed and about 250 people were reported injured as per a Taliban spokesperson. Pakistani outlet Samaa cited security sources to reject the allegations of striking the hospital terming as "ridiculous" the claim made by Afghanistan.

Hamdullah Fitrat, Deputy Spokesperson of Taliban, said that the airstrike was carried out by Pakistan at 9 PM on Monday evening on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital- a 2,000-bed facility dedicated towards the treatment of drug addiction.

He said that due to the attack, large sections of the hospital have been destroyed. With the death toll at 400 and around 250 reported injured, rescue teams in Afghanistan are working to control the fire and recover the remaining bodies of the victims.

As per Tolo News, the airstrike in Kabul on Monday evening was not the first time that the Pakistani military targeted civilians in Afghanistan. Previously, it has also targeted civilians, including women and children, in different provinces of the country.

Afghan news outlet Khaama Press reported that the residents of Kabul mentioned damage to dozens of homes due to the explosions, with several buildings showing structural harm from the blasts.

Citing sources, Khaama Press said that it was a Pakistani aircraft that bombed a Taliban military facility in Ghani Khel district of Nangarhar province late Monday evening.

Khaama Press also said that Taliban forces reportedly launched drone attacks targeting areas inside Pakistan, escalating tensions and triggering retaliatory strikes across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

It further reported that the Taliban had reportedly launched drone attacks targeting areas inside Pakistan-- which Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari condemned and said that the Afghan Taliban crossed a "red line".

Meanwhile, Pakistani news outlet Samaa News reported on Tuesday, citing security sources, that Pakistani Armed Forces carried out airstrikes in Kabul and Nangarhar province, targeting facilities linked to the Taliban.

According to Samaa, sources said the strikes hit two locations in Kabul, which destroyed 'technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage facilities'.

The security sources rejected striking the drug hospital and called the statement by Taliban Spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid as "ridiculous", it further reported.

As per Samaa, in Afghanistan's Nangarhar, Pakistan's forces reportedly struck four sites linked to Taliban military installations and it claimed it also destroyed the nearby logistics hubs, ammunition depots and technical infrastructure.

Al Jazeera reported that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's spokesperson, Mosharraf Zaidi, dismissed the allegations as baseless, and in a post on X, Pakistan's Ministry of Information said the strikes had "precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure, including technical equipment storage and ammunition storage of Afghan Taliban" and Afghanistan-based Pakistani fighters in Kabul and Nangarhar.

Pakistan's targeting was "precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted", the ministry said as per Al Jazeera. It was added that Mujahid's claim was aimed at stirring anti-Pakistan sentiment and to cover the Taliban's "illegitimate support for cross-border terrorism".

As tensions escalate between Pakistan and Afghanistan, in a separate report by Tolo News, it was noted, citing officials, that about 7,500 families were displaced in several of Kunar's districts near the Durand Line due to Pakistani artillery fire.

Displaced residents said that the shelling by Pakistan has not only destroyed their homes but also killed their livestock, lamenting that despite the holy month of Ramadan, shelling by Pakistan has made the situation so bad that they cannot return and have been living in tents for the past 12 days.

- ANI