Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of war crimes over new strikes

Islamabad has denied any responsibility for the attack, insisting its targeting is “precise and intelligence based” Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of “unforgivable war crimes” over strikes on the eastern province of Kunar on Monday, which officials said left at least seven dead and over 70 wounded, and heavily damaged a local university. Low-intensity clashes have been continuing on the Afghan-Pakistani border despite the two nations entering a formal truce in late March. The hostilities flared up on Monday, when, according to Afghan officials, the Pakistani military shelled multiple civilian sites across Kunar, including Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani University. Some 30 students and professors were wounded in the attack, and the institution itself sustained extensive damage. Seven people were killed and around 40 wounded across the provinces in repeated artillery and missile attacks, the authorities said. The attacks constituted “unforgivable war crimes,” according to Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesperson of the Taliban, which took over Afghanistan in 2021. Read more No rules: Where could the next war erupt? Kabul’s account has been disputed by Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, stating that the allegations of striking the university were a “blatant lie.” The ministry did not explicitly deny other strikes carried out across Kunar, stating only that Pakistan’s targeting is “precise and intelligence based.” Pakistan and Afghanistan had engaged in fighting for weeks after Islamabad declared an “open war” on the Taliban in February.

Pakistan attacked military and other sites deep inside the country, including the capital city of Kabul, while the Afghan authorities have repeatedly accused it of carrying out indiscriminate strikes on civilians. While the two sides entered a truce late in March, low-intensity hostility has continued along the porous border between the two nations, which largely runs across remote regions. Islamabad has long accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of sheltering assorted militant groups that routinely conduct cross-border raids and terrorist attacks in the country. Kabul, however, has consistently denied such allegations.