Addressing a UNSC meeting, India’s representative to the UN called the Pakistani airstrike on Kabul’s Omid Rehabilitation Center “barbaric,” saying the country has not remained committed to its obligations to protect civilians.
Harish Parvathaneni, referred to findings by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which he said linked the vast majority of documented civilian casualty incidents in Afghanistan to Pakistani security forces.
“The UNAMA documentation attributed 94 of 95 incidents of civilian casualties to Pakistani security forces,” he told the council.
Referring to Pakistan’s airstrike on Omid rehab center on March 16, he said the world should not forget the “barbaric airstrike” during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“The world has not forgotten that it was during the holy month of Ramadan in March this year, at a time of peace, reflection and mercy, that Pakistan conducted a barbaric airstrike on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul,” he said.
Citing UNAMA, he said the strike killed 269 civilians and injured 122 others.
“The airstrikes of Pakistan occurred at the conclusion of Taraweeh evening prayers when numerous patients were leaving the mosque,” he added, again referring to UNAMA’s reporting.
Harish also said that more than 94,000 people had been displaced by cross-border armed violence in Afghanistan and argued that Pakistan had ignored calls by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for member states to uphold their obligations to protect civilians.
India urged the Security Council to keep civilian protection at the center of its efforts to maintain international peace and security.
Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, rejected suggestions that Islamabad disregards international humanitarian law.
“Civilians must be protected, and civilian objects must not be targeted,” Ahmad said. “The current crisis is not a crisis of laws; it is a crisis of implementation, accountability and political will.”
Pakistani officials have repeatedly denied targeting civilian facilities in Afghanistan, saying their military operations are directed only at what they describe as terrorist infrastructure and militant groups threatening Pakistan’s security.
Relations between Pakistan and the Taliban have deteriorated in recent months. After the start of border clashes between the two sides in late February, all trade routes between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been closed, leaving further strain on local markets as well as investors.
