Athens, April 3 – Several political leaders in Pakistan, including legislators, recently issued a joint statement, describing the recent Pakistani airstrikes on a rehabilitation center in Afghanistan as an “undeclared war” that resulted in civilian deaths and injuries, according to a report.
On March 16, Pakistan launched airstrikes on the 2,000-bed Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul, killing hundreds of civilians and injuring several others.
According to a report in the 'Greek City Times', the Islamabad government faced strong criticism at home for its "misguided military action" against Afghanistan.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan, said that Islamabad's attempts to topple the Afghan government were "misguided and ineffective".
Warning that such military action could have serious consequences, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the provincial leader of Pakistan's Awami National Party, was quoted as saying, "A war can be started; its end is not in the hands of the one who begins it and depends on circumstances".
"Pakistan's action was labelled as a war crime as Islamabad was found to have violated humanitarian norms and international laws. The Pakistani government also faced backlash at home for its wrong policies,” the report detailed.
Condemning the attacks by Pakistani forces, political analyst Gul Mohammaduddin Mohammadi said, “In war, killing civilians or causing casualties among women and children is against UN principles, human rights, and human values, and such actions are not justifiable from an Islamic perspective either.”
The report noted that Pakistan faced criticism from various quarters following the multiple military strikes inside Afghanistan that caused civilian deaths, breached territorial sovereignty, and intensified regional instability, especially amid the escalating US-Iran conflict.
It mentioned that while Pakistan claimed that the airstrikes targeted terror camps and were “precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted”, the ground realities appeared starkly “different and horrific”.
It added that Pakistani missiles struck innocent people and civilian infrastructure in Afghanistan, including schools, homes and medical facilities.
According to Georgette Gagnon, officer-in-charge of the UN mission in Afghanistan, the damaged facility was “a well-known rehabilitation center” operated by the Afghan government.
“Our colleagues who visited the place found widespread destruction, including complete destruction of one block that housed adolescents receiving drug treatment,” the 'Greek City Times' quoted her as saying.
Last week, Human Rights Watch (HRW), a US-based advocacy group, termed the March 16 Pakistani airstrikes on the rehabilitation center in Kabul as “an unlawful attack” and warned that the incident could amount to a possible war crime, raising serious concerns over civilian safety and adherence to international law.
"The available evidence indicates that the Pakistani airstrike against a well-known Kabul medical facility, killing dozens of patients, was unlawful. Pakistani authorities need to carry out an impartial investigation to determine why it hit a drug treatment centre filled with civilians and who should be held to account,” said Patricia Gossman, senior associate Asia director at HRW.