KABUL (Pajhwok): India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations said at a UN Security Council meeting that Pakistani forces caused hundreds of civilian casualties in Afghanistan during the first three months of this year and also ignored the UN Secretary-General’s call to protect civilians.
According to reports, around 770 civilians were martyred and nearly 720 others injured in rocket and airstrikes carried out by the Pakistani military regime in various provinces of Afghanistan over the past three months.
The deadliest of these attacks took place in mid-March on a drug treatment center in Police District 9 of Kabul city, resulting in more than 400 deaths and 250 injuries.
Speaking at the UN Security Council annual open debate on “Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Harish Parvathaneni, referred to UNAMA findings on civilian casualties from violence attributed to Pakistani forces in Afghanistan.
He added that most of these casualties resulted from airstrikes and that UNAMA attributed 94 of 95 civilian casualty incidents to Pakistani security forces.
The Indian envoy also said Pakistan targeted the Omid drug treatment hospital in Kabul during Ramadan this year, an attack which he said killed 269 civilians and injured 122 others.
He said: “The attack took place after Taraweeh prayers, when many patients were leaving the mosque, and such a place cannot in any way be considered a military target.”
In another part of his remarks, he said Pakistan has also ignored the UN Secretary-General’s call to uphold international obligations on protecting civilians, including preventing the forced return of Afghan refugees.
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