Pakistan Conducts Airstrikes On Nine Targets In Afghanistan

Gunfire was later heard in several parts of the capital.

Hamdullah Fitrat, the Taliban’s deputy spokesperson, said Pakistani forces had targeted the Omid drug rehabilitation centre. He claimed that at least 400 people were killed and 250 others wounded in the attack.

Fitrat said around 2,000 people had been undergoing treatment at the facility at the time.

Pakistan denied targeting any medical centre and said its strikes were aimed at “precise military facilities and terrorist support infrastructure” in Kabul and Nangarhar province.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has not yet issued a statement on the reported incident.

Human rights activists have called for an independent and impartial international investigation into the attack.

A video published by Hurriyat, a Taliban-linked outlet, showed a guard at the Omid camp saying a jet had dropped a bomb about 200 metres from the facility. The witness said he was injured by shrapnel from the blast.

Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesperson for the Taliban, also reported the destruction of civilian homes in the attacks.

Speaking on Monday, March 16, Fitrat said the Pakistani army targeted civilian houses using mortars and artillery.

He added that during overnight attacks in the districts of Sabari, Zazi Maidan and Alisher in Khost province, three children and one woman were killed and nine others were injured.

Fitrat said that in Nari district of Kunar province, a house caught fire after being hit by a mortar shell fired from Pakistan, and that civilian homes were also targeted in the districts of Shkin and Barmal in Paktika province.

The Taliban deputy spokesperson added that Pakistan fired at least 43 mortar rounds into Shkin district of Paktika province, although no casualties were reported there.

An official from one of the military fronts opposing the Taliban confirmed that meetings had been held among political figures opposed to the group, during which Pakistan’s invitation was discussed.

A meeting involving representatives of prominent anti-Taliban groups and officials from the former Afghan government is expected to take place in Islamabad after Eid al-Fitr.

The final list of participants is not yet available.

Pakistan is increasing political pressure alongside military pressure on the Taliban administration in Afghanistan.

Another source said Islamabad aims to expand its political support for Taliban opponents through the meeting and is seeking the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan that includes all ethnic groups, religious communities and women.

Pakistan is said to regret its long-term support for the Taliban and believes its strategy of strategic depth in Afghanistan has failed.

Many Afghan citizens are also struggling with widespread human rights repression, poverty and unemployment.

Pakistan accuses the Taliban of hosting terrorist groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The Taliban deny the claim, but United Nations reports confirm that the TTP maintains a presence in Afghanistan.

In the updated list, the committee added Aziz-Ur-Rahman Abdul Ahad, the Taliban’s third secretary at their embassy in the United Arab Emirates.

Abdul Ahad did not appear on the committee’s previous sanctions list.

On 12 July 2024, the UN sanctions committee published a list of 61 Taliban officials under sanctions. In the latest update, the names of at least 39 senior Taliban officials and members who appeared on last year’s list have been removed.

Among the prominent figures removed from the new list are Shahabuddin Delawar, head of the Taliban’s Red Crescent Society; Abbas Stanikzai, the deputy foreign minister for political affairs; Hamdullah Nomani, acting minister for urban development and housing; Hamidullah Akhund Sher Mohammad, first deputy defence minister; and Noorullah Noori, acting minister for borders and tribal affairs.

In addition, the UN sanctions committee has removed the names of Jan Mohammad Madani Ikram, Hibatullah Akhundzada’s financial adviser; Yahya Haqqani, a senior member of the Haqqani network; Shams Ur-Rahman, senior adviser to Sirajuddin Haqqani; and Muhammad Taher Anwari, another adviser linked to the Haqqani network.

The updated list has also removed several deputy ministers from the ministries of borders and tribal affairs, labour and social affairs, martyrs and the disabled, promotion of virtue, finance, information and culture, and Hajj and religious affairs.

The committee also removed the names of several advisers to Taliban ministries and Taliban governors in Nangarhar and Logar provinces.

However, the updated list still includes Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the Taliban’s prime minister; Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy prime minister for economic affairs; Abdul Salam Hanafi, deputy prime minister for administrative affairs; Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi; Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani; Minister for Refugees and Repatriation Abdul Kabir; Agriculture Minister Abdul Latif Mansoor; Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Fazl Mohammad Mazloom; former Higher Education Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani; Minister of economy Din Mohammad Hanif; Qudratullah Jamal, deputy minister for tourism at the Ministry of Information and Culture; Nooruddin Turabi, head of the Natural Disaster Management Authority; Public Works Minister Mohammad Essa Akhund; Urban Development Minister Najibullah Haqqani; Hajj and Religious Affairs Minister Noor Mohammad Saqib; Intelligence Chief Abdul Haq Wassiq; and Khairullah Khairkhwa, governor of Maidan Wardak.

It marks the first formal engagement by the European Parliament with Taliban opponents on the crisis in Afghanistan.

Earlier, sources told Afghanistan International that international meetings had mostly focused on humanitarian aid, women’s rights and refugee issues, but this time the discussions have shifted towards political opposition and armed resistance against the Taliban.

In recent years, the European Union has consistently emphasised engagement with the Taliban and has avoided establishing formal and public contacts with opposition fronts.

Belgium has previously hosted meetings related to Afghanistan.