India Condemns Pakistan Over Airstrikes in Afghanistan

By Staff, Agencies

India has condemned Pakistan over airstrikes in neighboring Afghanistan that reportedly killed at least 18 people and left several others injured.

The attack, which Pakistan described as a “retributive response” to a recent suicide bombing, was carried out in the early hours of Sunday in the eastern Afghan provinces of Nangarhar Province and Paktika Province.

“India strongly condemns Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghan territory that have resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children, during the holy month of Ramadhan,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said on Sunday.

In what appeared to be a reference to Islamabad’s defense of the attacks, Jaiswal added: “It is another effort by Pakistan to externalize its internal failures.”

Pakistan said the strikes were in response to recent suicide bombings on its territory, including one at a Shiite place of worship earlier this month that killed at least 31 people and injured nearly 170. Islamic State, Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for that attack.

The Saturday strikes pose a major challenge to the ceasefire agreed between Kabul and Islamabad in October 2025.

The neighboring states clashed in October, leaving dozens dead in the worst violence since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.