India condemns Pakistani strikes on Afghanistan

Islamabad’s airstrikes on an Afghan province killed 46 people, including women and children, on December 24

New Delhi has “unequivocally” condemned last month’s attack on villages in neighbouring Afghanistan by Pakistan, which resulted in deaths of at least 46 people, including women and children. The airstrike on December 24 hit seven settlements, according to Islamabad, targeting multiple suspected hideouts of Pakistani Taliban militants.

On Monday, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi condemned “any attack on innocent civilians.” “It is an old practice of Pakistan to blame its neighbors for its own internal failures,” he added.

India had previously accused Pakistan of supporting and sponsoring cross-border terrorism. “Whenever we investigate terrorism, we find Pakistani involvement,” Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said at a rally last year. “Successive governments have urged Pakistan to end its terror camps, but to no avail.” 

In December, New Delhi called on Pakistan to take decisive action against Masood Azhar, the mastermind behind the 2001 Indian parliament attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack, in which 40 Indian soldiers were killed, after reports emerged that he had addressed a gathering for the first time in two decades.

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In the speech, Azhar vowed to renew jihadist operations targeting India and Israel to establish a global Islamic order.

While Pakistan did not officially comment on the airstrikes on Afghanistan, the country’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, commended the security forces for a “successful operation” that resulted in killing 13 “terrorists” and thwarting their “nefarious designs.” 

The airstrikes were launched just hours after Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, visited Kabul for discussions with Afghan officials. 

The Afghan Defense Ministry has claimed that the victims of the strikes were refugees from the Waziristan area of Pakistan. It called the incident a “barbaric act” and “clear aggression,” adding that Kabul “will not let this act of cowardice go unanswered.” 

Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry in Kabul subsequently summoned the Pakistani envoy and issued a strong protest over the airstrikes.

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

Days after the attacks, clashes erupted between Afghan and Pakistani border forces at crossing points, killing 19 Pakistani soldiers and three Afghan civilians, local media reported.