Kabul [Afghanistan], March 18 (ANI): Over 400 people have been reported killed in a deadly airstrike carried out by Pakistan on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul, while the Pakistani military fired 124 rockets into districts of Kunar province over the past 24 hours, Tolo News reported.
The United Nations has called for an investigation and accountability into the hospital strike.
Officials from the Kunar Directorate of Information and Culture said Pakistan conducted scattered rocket attacks across several areas of the province; no casualties were reported in those strikes. Zia-ul-Rahman Spin Ghar, Head of Information at the Directorate, said: “The Pakistani military regime has once again launched 124 rocket attacks on districts near the hypothetical Durand Line in Kunar. Fortunately, no one was harmed in these attacks. However, as a result, many of our fellow citizens have been forced to leave their homes.”
Citing Kunar’s Department of Refugees and Repatriation, Tolo News reported nearly 7,500 families from districts near the Durand Line have been displaced and moved to safer areas.
Messages of condolence and condemnation followed the airstrike on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital on Monday evening. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said Afghanistan has lost trust in Pakistan’s commitment to diplomacy. Speaking to Kabul-based ambassadors, diplomats and representatives of international organisations, Muttaqi said the strike showed Pakistan’s military establishment had no intention of pursuing a diplomatic resolution. “We must state clearly that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has lost trust in Pakistan’s intentions regarding diplomatic solutions. It should now be evident to all countries, especially those that previously attempted mediation or those now wishing to take initiatives, that the Pakistani military apparatus shows no respect for diplomacy,” he said.
Muttaqi gave preliminary figures indicating more than 408 people were killed and 250 injured after the airstrike struck the drug rehabilitation facility late at night. Many victims were patients undergoing treatment and staff working at the centre when it was hit.
On Tuesday, UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan called for a prompt, independent and transparent investigation of the airstrike and for those responsible to be held accountable. UNHCR noted that since hostilities escalated at the end of last month, 289 Afghan civilians, including 104 children and 59 women, have been killed or injured. Tens of thousands, mainly in the south and southeast, have been displaced by the fighting.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed condolences and emphasized that attacks on hospitals and civilian facilities are prohibited under international law. UNAMA reiterated calls for de-escalation, an immediate ceasefire, and for parties to comply with obligations to protect civilians.
India strongly condemned the Pakistani airstrike, calling it barbaric, urging the international community to hold perpetrators accountable, and extending condolences to bereaved families, the Ministry of External Affairs said.
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