“Islamabad’s Old Practice”: India Slams Pakistan’s Airstrikes On Afghanistan 

India on Monday “unequivocally” condemning the Pakistani attack on civilians in Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister said that it is Islamabad’s “old practice” to blame its neighbours for its own internal failure.

Kabul has claimed that Pakistani airstrikes on the Barmal district of Paktika province in Afghanistan on December 24 last year resulted in the death of at least 51 people, including women and children.

Responding to media queries regarding airstrikes on Afghan civilians, the Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have noted the media reports on airstrikes on Afghan civilians, including women and children, in which several precious lives have been lost.”

“We unequivocally condemn any attack on innocent civilians. It is an old practice of Pakistan to blame its neighbours for its own internal failures. We have also noted the response of an Afghan spokesperson in this regard,” he added.

Pakistani Airstrike On Afghanistan

In rare airstrikes, Pakistan on December 24 targeted multiple suspected hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban inside neighbouring Afghanistan, resulting in the death of at least 51 people, including women and children. The strikes were carried out in a mountainous area in Paktika province bordering Pakistan. The airstrikes affected seven villages, particularly Laman, where five members of a single family were killed in the attack.

In the aftermath of the strike, tensions escalated at the border, with the Taliban warning of retaliation against the Pakistani aggression.

“Afghanistan considers this brutal act a blatant violation of all international principles and an obvious act of aggression,” Enayatullah Khowrazmi, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defence, said in a statement. “The Islamic Emirate will not leave this cowardly act unanswered.”

Following this, security officials from both countries reported sporadic fighting between border forces along Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Afghanistan’s Khost province.