Outrage Over War Between Two Muslim Countries, 372 People Dead

At least 372 Afghan civilians were killed in the conflict with Pakistan in the first three months of this year. In a UN report on Tuesday, more than half of the deaths were caused by airstrikes on a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul.

It should be noted that relations between the two Muslim countries have been tense since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Relations “exploded” into what Pakistan’s defence minister called an “open war” in February.

Islamabad accuses the Taliban government in Afghanistan of protecting militants behind the surge in attacks on Pakistan. Pakistan believes these attacks are carried out by the Pakistani Taliban but protected by the Afghan Taliban.

“Between 1 January and 31 March 2026, UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) documented a total of 372 civilians killed and 397 injured due to cross-border armed violence between Afghan security forces and Pakistani military forces,” the agency stated, as reported by AFP on Wednesday (13/5/2026).

The death toll in the last three months is higher than the number of fatalities recorded by UNAMA for the same period since 2011. According to the report, 13 women, 46 children (31 boys and 16 girls), and 313 men were killed in Afghanistan between 1 January and 31 March.

“The report is based on verification with three independent sources,” the UN mission stated.

“The main cause of civilian casualties is airstrikes (64%) and the remainder due to indirect cross-border shelling and one targeted killing of an NGO worker,” it added.

UNAMA also noted that many bodies could not be identified because they were “mutilated”. Others could not be recognised “due to severe burns”.

“The actual figure may be much higher,” the report emphasised again.