UN reports over 370 Afghan deaths in Pakistan conflict in 2026

UN Reports High Number of Civilian Casualties in Cross-Border Violence with Pakistan

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has released its quarterly report, detailing the number of civilian casualties resulting from cross-border violence between Taliban forces and Pakistani military personnel in the first three months of 2026. According to the report, at least 372 Afghan civilians were killed and 397 injured as a result of these clashes.

The majority of the deaths, accounting for more than half, were attributed to air raids on a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul. The report was based on checks with three independent sources and included 13 women, 46 children (31 boys and 16 girls), and 313 men among the casualties.

Cross-border violence between Afghanistan and Pakistan has escalated significantly since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. The situation deteriorated into “open war” at the end of February, according to Pakistan’s defence minister. Islamabad accuses the Taliban government of sheltering armed fighters, while Afghan officials deny this and claim that Pakistan harbours hostile groups.

The UNAMA report called on both parties to respect international law by refraining from targeting health facilities or firing shells into civilian areas. The Pakistani military insisted that its actions were directed solely against terrorist and military infrastructure, citing air strikes as the leading cause of civilian casualties (64 percent).

In recent incidents, a female Afghan NGO worker was killed during the Eid al-Fitr festival in March, despite a ceasefire agreement having been reached earlier. Since then, while incidents have decreased, they have not stopped entirely. On April 27, shelling at a university in Asadabad resulted in seven civilian deaths and 85 injuries, according to Afghan authorities.

Source: Al Jazeera