New Delhi, Mar 17: India on Tuesday “unequivocally” condemned Pakistan’s “barbaric” airstrike on a drug treatment centre in Kabul and described it as a “blatant assault” on Afghanistan’s sovereignty and a threat to regional peace and stability.
In a strong reaction to the last night’s attack that reportedly killed over 400 people, New Delhi accused Pakistan of trying to “dress up a massacre as a military operation.”
It said the strike reflects Islamabad’s persistent pattern of “reckless behaviour” and its repeated attempts to “externalise internal failures.”
Afghan media reported that over 400 people were killed and more than 250 others injured in the Pakistani airstrikes on the Omid Addiction Treatment hospital.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said India “unequivocally condemns Pakistan’s barbaric airstrike” on the hospital in Kabul.
“This is a cowardly and unconscionable act of violence that has claimed the lives of a large number of civilians in a facility which can by no means be justified as a military target,” it said.
The MEA said Pakistan is now trying to “dress up a massacre as a military operation.”
“This heinous act of aggression by Pakistan is also a blatant assault on Afghanistan’s sovereignty and a direct threat to regional peace and stability,” it said in a statement.
“It reflects Pakistan’s persistent pattern of reckless behaviour and its repeated attempts to externalize internal failures through increasingly desperate acts of violence beyond its borders,” it said.
New Delhi said the international community must hold the perpetrators of the criminal act accountable and ensure that Pakistan’s “wanton targeting” of civilians in Afghanistan ceases without delay.
“That this attack was carried out during the holy month of Ramzan, a time of peace, reflection, and mercy among Muslim communities across the world, makes it all the more reprehensible,” the MEA said.
“There is no faith, no law, and no morality that can justify the deliberate targeting of a hospital and its patients,” it said.
The MEA said India extended its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wished a swift recovery to those injured.
India stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan in this “tragic moment,” it said.
“We also reiterate our unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan,” it added.
The latest Pakistani strikes came as Operation Ghazab lil Haq, launched on February 26, continued, according to Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Pakistan said it launched the military offensive in response to alleged attacks by the Afghan Taliban forces along the 2,600-km-long border. (PTI)
