At least 372 civilians were killed and 397 wounded in Taliban-Pakistan clashes during the first three months of 2026, according to a new report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
The report said most of the civilian casualties occurred after Pakistan launched what it called “Operation Ghazab al-Haq” on Feb. 26, following a series of militant attacks inside Pakistan that Islamabad blamed on armed groups operating from Afghanistan’s territory.
The UN documented 95 separate incidents of cross-border violence between Jan. 1 and March 31, attributing 94 of them to Pakistani security forces and one to Taliban.
Airstrikes accounted for nearly two-thirds of the civilian casualties, while the remaining deaths and injuries were caused mainly by cross-border artillery and mortar fire.
According to the report, the casualties included 72 women, 554 men, 48 girls and 95 boys.
The provinces with the highest numbers of casualties were Kabul, Kunar and Paktika.
More than half of all casualties were linked to a March 16 airstrike on the Omid Rehabilitation Hospital in Kabul, one of the deadliest single attacks documented during the conflict.
After visiting the site and interviewing survivors, relatives and medical staff, UNAMA said Pakistani airstrikes struck several sections of the hospital complex, including sleeping quarters, a mosque area and vocational training buildings.
The United Nations independently verified at least 269 deaths and 122 injuries from the attack, though it warned the true toll could be significantly higher because patient records were destroyed and some bodies were unidentifiable because of burns and dismemberment.
The report said many of those killed were patients leaving evening prayers when the strikes occurred.
Pakistani authorities denied targeting civilians or medical facilities.
In comments included in the report, the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul said the strikes targeted “terrorist and military infrastructure,” including drone storage and ammunition facilities allegedly used by the Taliban to support attacks inside Pakistan.
“No hospital, drug rehabilitation centre, or civilian facility was targeted,” the embassy said as quoted in the report.
The Taliban, meanwhile, accused Pakistan of violating international law and said more than 760 civilians had been killed or wounded in the cross-border violence.
The report also documented heavy civilian suffering in border provinces.
One survivor in Paktika told UN investigators that 14 members of his family were killed when an airstrike hit their home during the pre-dawn meal before fasting.
Another resident in Khost said his 4-year-old daughter was killed by mortar fire while his family attempted to flee to safety during evening prayers.
The UN said the fighting displaced more than 94,000 people by early April and damaged homes, schools, mosques and businesses in multiple provinces.
UNAMA also reported that Taliban forces had used at least one school and one hospital for military purposes during the fighting.
The report called on both Pakistan and the Taliban to comply with international humanitarian law, protect civilians and investigate alleged violations.
