Nearly 500 Afghan civilians have been killed and more than 1,200 injured in months of cross-border fighting between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the United Nations said Tuesday, warning of mounting civilian casualties and worsening human rights conditions in Afghanistan.
In its latest human rights report, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it documented 499 civilian deaths and 1,216 injuries between October and the end of June as clashes between the neighboring countries intensified despite international efforts to ease tensions.
The report cited incidents in which civilians attempting to rescue victims from airstrikes were hit by subsequent attacks. In one of the deadliest incidents, two successive airstrikes on a residential building in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia province on June 28 killed 22 people, including five children, and wounded at least 185 others. Most of the casualties occurred during the second strike as residents tried to rescue survivors from the first.
UNAMA Human Rights Director Fiona Frazer stressed that international humanitarian law prohibits attacks on first responders, medical personnel and humanitarian workers carrying out rescue operations.
Fighting between the two countries has escalated in recent months. Tensions sharply increased in February after Afghan forces launched raids into Pakistan following Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan, prompting Islamabad to describe the situation as an "open war."
Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of sheltering militants, including the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), responsible for deadly attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul has consistently rejected the allegations.
The UN report also referred to a March airstrike on a drug treatment center in Kabul that reportedly killed hundreds of civilians. Rights group Amnesty International has called for an investigation into the incident as a possible war crime.
Responding to the report, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry maintained that its military operations targeted only militant hideouts and infrastructure linked to groups carrying out attacks in Pakistan. It did not address the reported civilian casualties.
Beyond the conflict, UNAMA expressed concern over Afghanistan’s deteriorating human rights situation, particularly for women and girls.
The report documented a crackdown in the western city of Herat in June, where at least 30 women were arrested for allegedly violating the Taliban’s dress code. At least one person was killed and several others injured after security forces opened fire during a rare protest against the detentions.
UNAMA also said officials from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice have instructed health facilities and businesses in several areas to deny services to women not accompanied by a male guardian.
Additionally, the report warned that newly introduced regulations governing marriage effectively permit child marriage by allowing marriage contracts to be arranged for minors, raising further concerns about the erosion of women's and children's rights under Taliban rule.