Pakistani Border Forces Strike Taliban Positions In Zabul

John Aylieff, head of the World Food Programme in Afghanistan, said 3.7 million Afghan children are projected to require treatment for malnutrition in 2026.

Speaking at a meeting in Geneva on Tuesday, Aylieff said acute malnutrition among children is rising rapidly. Funding cuts, he said, have left the WFP able to treat only one in four children in need.

He said some children are unable to reach health clinics, while others are stranded in remote mountainous areas because of heavy snowfall.

Aylieff said most child deaths in Afghanistan occur quietly at home during the winter. He warned that when snow melts in late March or April, it may reveal that child mortality in rural areas has been far higher than expected.

He added that deportation policies in neighbouring Iran and Pakistan have led to the return of more than 5 million people to Afghanistan since late 2023, placing further strain on limited resources.

Many returnees have settled near areas of recent clashes between Pakistani and Afghan forces, forcing the World Food Programme to suspend some services. Aylieff warned that acute malnutrition is likely to worsen as fighting disrupts access to health care, putting tens of thousands of children at risk.

Denmark ranked first.

According to the report, one in five women in the 10 lowest-ranked countries, including Afghanistan, has experienced violence by an intimate partner.

Countries such as South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Central African Republic and Yemen ranked just above Afghanistan.

The index analyses 13 indicators measuring women’s status worldwide. In the lowest-ranked countries, more than half of women say they do not feel safe in their communities.

Nearly three in four women in those countries live close to armed conflict. New data show that about one in six people globally is exposed to conflict.

The report says setbacks in women’s rights have coincided with a rise in conflict and violence. In 2024, more than 676 million women worldwide were living near conflict, a 74% increase compared with 2010 and the highest number and proportion recorded to date.

Armed conflict disproportionately affects women and vulnerable groups, worsening violence and reversing gains in women’s rights.

Proximity to conflict also undermines women’s wellbeing. Countries that perform worst on the index, including Afghanistan, also score poorly on other indicators.

On average, those countries rank lowest for access to justice and record a maternal mortality ratio of 226 deaths per 100,000 live births, worse than the global average.

Levels of targeted political violence against women in these countries, including Afghanistan, are three times the global average, the report said.

In a post on X, Tarar said Pakistani forces had destroyed 188 posts and captured 31 others.

He added that 192 tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery pieces had been destroyed and that airstrikes had targeted 56 locations across Afghanistan.

The Taliban have not yet responded to the figures.

Fitrat warned, however, that as long as Pakistan continues its attacks on Afghan territory, Taliban operations would also continue.

He described Pakistan as the initiator of the conflict, saying the war was not the Taliban’s choice and that Pakistan had begun the aggression.

Fitrat said regional countries should press Pakistan to bring the war to an end.

He also called on international human rights organisations to condemn Pakistan’s military strikes.

Pakistan, in turn, said 415 Taliban and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan members had been killed. The Taliban said the fighting was ongoing.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that Pakistani fighter jets bombed areas in Paktika, Paktia, Khost and Kunar provinces on the fifth day of fighting.

Sources told Afghanistan International that a Taliban border brigade near Jalalabad in Nangarhar Province was targeted in an airstrike.

The Taliban also confirmed that Pakistani jets entered the airspace of Kabul and that their forces opened fire at them.

The Taliban’s Defence Ministry said it had destroyed a Pakistani armoured tank in the Shkin district of Paktika. The ministry also claimed to have targeted a Pakistani military commissariat in Dand-e-Patan district of Paktia.

Hamdullah Fitrat, a deputy spokesperson for the Taliban, said that three children were killed and three others wounded in a Pakistani strike on a refugee camp in Khas Kunar. Pakistan has not commented on the allegation.

For the third consecutive night, residents in Panjshir, and Kapisa provinces reported hearing aircraft and explosions.

Late on Monday night, Pakistani fighter jets again bombed a Taliban border brigade near Jalalabad.

The Taliban’s Defence Ministry also said Taliban and Pakistani forces clashed late at night in Spin Boldak, claiming three Pakistani soldiers were killed, one captured and a border post seized.

Russia offered to mediate between the Taliban and Pakistan, while China called on both sides to exercise restraint.

United Kingdom, in talks with Taliban officials, stressed that war is not a solution and that disputes should be resolved through negotiations.

The United Nations called for an immediate halt to the violence and the protection of civilians.

Asif Ali Zardari told parliament that the Taliban had crossed a “red line” and that Islamabad had delivered a clear message in response.

Ishaq Dar, Pakistan's foreign minister, said that after negotiations failed, Pakistan was compelled to launch a military operation named “Ghazb lil Haq.”