Kabul claims over 750 Afghan civilians killed in Pakistan border clashes since February

Kabul claimed on Sunday that more than 750 Afghan civilians were killed in clashes with Pakistan, which launched airstrikes in late February against what Islamabad described as militant groups in Afghanistan. More than 27,000 families have been displaced across the country since February, Afghan government deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said in a statement posted on X.

Casualty claims

Fitrat claimed that clashes killed 761 civilians, injured another 621, and displaced 27,407 families between February 22 and April 4. During this time, he claims the Pakistani military launched nearly 15,000 missiles, mortars, and artillery shells on parts of several bordering provinces, including the capital Kabul, destroying over 1,100 homes. Islamabad had no immediate reaction to Kabul's claims.

Conflicting narratives

Following a string of deadly attacks in Pakistan, the two neighboring countries engaged in their worst border clashes since February, with Islamabad accusing militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) of crossing the border to carry out the attacks. Kabul denies the allegations. Pakistan said its military airstrikes targeted alleged "terrorist" hideouts in Afghanistan, killing over 640 militants and injuring over 850 facilitators.

Kabul rehabilitation center strike

Amid the clashes, Afghanistan had also accused Pakistan of killing more than 400 people in an airstrike on a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul on March 16. Islamabad rejected the allegation, saying it only targeted "military installations and terrorist support infrastructure." Citing an unnamed top UN official, the New York Times reported that "at least 143 people were killed in a Pakistani airstrike that hit a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul."

UN figures

According to a March 17 statement by the UN mission in Kabul, it documented at least 76 civilian deaths and 213 injuries in Afghanistan due to the hostilities between Feb. 26 and March 16, except for casualties in alleged airstrikes on the rehabilitation center. The number of casualties claimed by the two sides could not be independently verified.

Ceasefire and talks

In March, Kabul and Islamabad agreed to a week-long ceasefire on the eve of Eid al-Fitr, and last week, talks were held in Urumqi, the capital of the northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang, mediated by Beijing.