Figures from various UN reports show that more than 9,800 security incidents were recorded in Afghanistan during the solar year 1404, which ended March 20.
The figures show that armed opposition movements, including the National Resistance Front and the Afghanistan Freedom Front, carried out more than 230 attacks against the Taliban during the year. Daesh’s Khorasan affiliate, known as ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for at least 14 security incidents.
Border clashes and Pakistani military airstrikes in Kabul, Kandahar and other parts of Afghanistan were reported throughout the year, highlighting escalating tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan.
Amu TV’s findings indicate that Pakistani forces carried out more than 20 airstrikes in Kabul and Kandahar in a single recent month. In one of the latest incidents on March 16, Pakistani strikes hit a rehabilitation center in the east of Kabul. Three bombs hit the center, according to sources familiar with the matter. Taliban said more than 400 civilians were killed, while the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) put the death toll in the dozens. Sources told Amu TV that at least 200 people were dead in the attack.
In addition to airstrikes, cross-border clashes between Taliban and Pakistani border troops intensified. According to UNAMA, about 100 civilians were killed in such incidents over a three-month period.
Overall, hundreds of civilians were killed in security-related violence during the year, particularly in border clashes and airstrikes.
ISIS-K also continued attacks, including a high-profile assault on a restaurant frequented by Chinese nationals in downtown Kabul’s Shahr-e-Naw area. Anti-Taliban armed groups claimed responsibility for more than 230 attacks.
UN data further show that at least 17 former Afghan security personnel were killed under suspicious circumstances during the year. Additional civilian casualties were reported in armed disputes over mining sites in the northern provinces of Takhar and Badakhshan.
The United Nations Security Council held multiple meetings on Afghanistan’s security situation during the year. Its sanctions committee warned that al-Qaida, ISIS-K, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups maintain an active presence in Afghanistan.
UN reports also said that leaders of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent are operating in Kabul and eastern Afghanistan, areas believed to be under the influence of the Haqqani network.
Regional countries, particularly Pakistan, have repeatedly said that Afghanistan has once again become a safe haven for militant groups, a claim Taliban have denied.
In a separate development, several cross-border security incidents involving Tajikistan were reported during the year. Officials from both sides confirmed at least one case in which a drone attack launched from Afghanistan’s territory killed several Chinese nationals inside Tajikistan.
Despite these developments, Taliban have maintained that Afghanistan remains secure and poses no threat to the region or the world. However, continued airstrikes, persistent armed violence and ongoing UN warnings about militant activity have raised questions about those claims.
