UN reports nearly 500 Afghan civilians killed in cross-border clashes with Pakistan

A UN assistance mission in Afghanistan has recorded 499 civilian fatalities and 1,216 injuries resulting from Pakistan-Afghanistan cross-border fighting between October and the end of June. Among the casualties were 22 people, including five children, killed in back-to-back airstrikes on a home in Paktia province, where rescuers were hit by a second strike. The deadliest incident was a March Pakistani airstrike on a Kabul drug-treatment centre that killed hundreds.

The UN report also highlights a harsh crackdown on women’s dress-code protests in Herat, where at least 30 women were detained and one person was killed. Pakistan’s foreign ministry responded by asserting its strikes were aimed solely at terrorist hideouts, rejecting any claim of civilian targeting. The Taliban-run Afghan government denies harboring militants, despite Pakistan’s accusations that it shelters groups linked to attacks inside Pakistan.