The conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan reignites with a new dangerous escalation. The Kabul government accuses the Pakistani armed forces of having caused the death of at least 13 civilians in night-time air raids on the eastern Afghan provinces: “Eleven children, a woman and an elderly man were killed”, declares the spokesperson, according to which “14 other people were injured”.
On the other side of the border, the authorities in Islamabad confirm that their troops have carried out raids on the border but claim to have killed “26 militiamen” of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan group, the Pakistani Taliban, and to have conducted what they define as “precise and calibrated attacks” on “hideouts and safe havens”.
One war, two opposing narratives. However, a France Presse journalist on site said he saw “a completely destroyed house in the south-eastern province of Khost, where residents were digging graves to bury the victims of a night attack”. And it is again the French press agency that quotes a local resident according to whom among the victims there would be “a poor family, who had done nothing” and who “had no connection with the militiamen”.
Despite attempts at mediation by Qatar, Türkiye and China, the violence has been going on for months. Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban – in power in Kabul since the withdrawal of US troops in 2021 and accused of very serious human rights violations – of not keeping in check what it defines as “anti-Pakistan terrorist groups” and which it suspects of being behind several attacks in the country. The Kabul government, however, rejects the charges. Islamabad describes the raids in recent hours as a reaction to “recent episodes of terrorism in Pakistan”.
And the day before he had denounced the killing of six paramilitaries in an attack by the Pakistani Taliban on a checkpoint near Peshawar. It is estimated that hundreds of people have died in these months of war between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Including many, too many civilians. At least 269 of them in a single day, March 16 – reports the UN – in an attack on a medical center in Kabul for which Pakistani forces are accused.