The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said at least 17 civilians were killed and 346 others wounded during recent clashes between Pakistani border forces and Taliban fighters in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province.
The UNAMA noted that the figures were preliminary, and that the actual toll could be a lot higher in comparison to the data. The mission also confirmed that one person was killed and 15 others injured in separate incidents in Paktia, Paktika, Kunar, and Helmand provinces.
The body issuing a separate statement, urged both sides to cease hostilities, and stressed on the need to protect civilians and prevent further loss of life amid escalating border tensions, which have already made the security situation between the two quite fragile.
According to Afghanistan’s Emergency Hospital personnel, at least 40 people, including women and children, were rushed to its Kabul wing after a series of powerful explosions shook the Afghanistan capital on Wednesday evening, with five confirmed dead.
Simultaneously, the Human Rights Alliance heavily condemned Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghan civilians, calling them a grave violation of the country’s territorial sovereignty and a breach of international law.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the rights group said that ordinary Afghans were paying the price for Islamabad’s “terror-driven politics” with their blood, and urged that the sanctity of national sovereignty and innocent be “respected,” at the utmost level.
