Over 370 Afghans killed in Pakistan conflict in first 3 months of 2026: UN

Fighting between the Taliban and Pakistani forces intensified in February, with many civilians killed in air raids.At least 372 Afghan civilians were killed and 397 injured as a result of cross-border violence between Taliban forces and the Pakistani military in the first three months of 2026, the United Nations has reported, with more than half the deaths attributed to air raids on a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul.The UN-assistance-mission-in-Afghanistan" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="125792" data-entity-type="organization">UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which monitors civilian casualties in Afghanistan, said its report, released on Tuesday, was based on checks with three different independent sources. The latest quarterly figure, which is higher than the casualties recorded for the period by UNAMA since 2011, included 13 women, 46 children (31 boys and 16 girls) and 313 men.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Afghan women’s refugee team allowed to play in FIFA tournamentslist 2 of 3Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of killing three civilians in ‘war crime’list 3 of 3Car bomb attack and ambush in northwest Pakistan kill at least 21 policeend of listCross-border clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan have escalated significantly since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, and exploded into “open war” at the end of February, according to Pakistan’s defence minister.Islamabad accuses the Taliban-government" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="121300" data-entity-type="organization">Taliban government in Kabul of sheltering armed fighters, notably the Pakistan-Taliban" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="1623" data-entity-type="organization">Pakistan Taliban (also known by the acronym TTP), which is different from the group that governs Afghanistan. Afghan officials deny this and counter that Pakistan harbours hostile groups and does not respect its sovereignty.The high proportion of men was attributed to the March 16 strikes on a Kabul drug treatment hospital, which admitted only male patients. At least 269 people were killed and 122 wounded in the attack, although “the real figure may be significantly higher”. Many bodies “were unrecognisable due to extensive burns”, according to the report.