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Khalilzad condemns Pakistani airstrikes, questions Islamabad’s intentions
He questioned whether Pakistan genuinely wanted a negotiated solution, asking whether the country’s leadership was seeking to resolve the dispute or pursuing broader strategic objectives.
Former US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has condemned Pakistan’s overnight airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan, saying the attacks have caused heavy civilian casualties despite repeated calls for dialogue to resolve tensions between the two countries.
In a statement posted on social media, Khalilzad said Pakistan had once again resorted to military action despite appeals from the international community and many Pakistanis to settle disputes through diplomatic means.
“I have always condemned the killing of Afghan civilians by Pakistan, and I condemn it again today,” he said.
His comments came after Afghanistan’s Islamic Emirate said Pakistani military aircraft carried out strikes in the eastern provinces of Paktia, Paktika and Kunar overnight.
According to Deputy Spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat, at least 36 civilians, including women and children, were killed and 163 others wounded.
The Islamic Emirate said the deadliest attack occurred in Mandokhail village in Paktia’s Chamkani district, where an initial strike hit a civilian home before a second strike allegedly targeted villagers responding to the scene. Officials also reported civilian casualties in Paktika province and the destruction of a residential home in Kunar province.
Khalilzad said Islamabad had also failed to respond to numerous proposals put forward by the Islamic Emirate aimed at addressing security concerns between the neighbouring countries.
He questioned whether Pakistan genuinely wanted a negotiated solution, asking whether the country’s leadership was seeking to resolve the dispute or pursuing broader strategic objectives.
“I also wish to point out that Islamabad has not responded to the numerous proposals and plans put forward by the Taliban (IEA) government, despite indicating that it agrees with them.
“In the continued absence of any constructive effort or response from Pakistan, it is time to ask an important question: Does Islamabad genuinely seek a solution and an agreement?”
Khalilzad further suggested that continued military action could indicate an effort to keep Afghanistan unstable, raising questions about whether such instability benefits foreign actors, including China, while running counter to US interests.
“Is this conflict really what Islamabad claims it is? Or is Pakistan’s security and military establishment pursuing other objectives? If so, what are those objectives?
“Is the goal to keep Afghanistan unstable?
“Is Pakistan’s security establishment being encouraged or rewarded by China to create conditions that would allow Afghanistan to fall further under Chinese influence? Or is it both?,” he asked.
Khalilzad warned that if this were the case, the consequences could include greater regional instability, an expansion of activities by extremist groups such as ISIS-Khorasan, and increased Chinese influence in Afghanistan.
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have remained strained in recent years, with both sides accusing each other of failing to address cross-frontier security threats.
Pakistan has previously said its military operations target militant groups responsible for attacks inside its territory, while Afghan authorities have repeatedly condemned cross-Durand Line strikes as violations of Afghanistan’s sovereignty and say civilians continue to bear the brunt of the violence.
Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Islamic Emirate’s Foreign Minister, met with Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh, Iran’s Minister of Agriculture Jihad, in Kabul on Thursday.
Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry said the two sides held comprehensive discussions on bilateral relations, expanding economic and transit cooperation, and holding the seventh meeting of the Joint Economic Commission between the two countries.
Muttaqi welcomed the progress in practical economic and transit cooperation between Afghanistan and Iran, saying there are further opportunities to expand bilateral ties.
Iran’s agriculture minister also stressed the importance of making use of existing opportunities for cooperation in various sectors and called for expanding current areas of cooperation.
Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) has unveiled a new visa card and HesabPay mobile application as part of efforts to expand digital financial services in Afghanistan.
The new products were introduced at an event in Kabul on Thursday, where Ahmad Shahpoor Mia Khail, the bank’s deputy governor for supervision, urged Afghans to use digital cards for payments and cash withdrawals.
Mia Khail said improving public trust and providing better financial services remain among the bank’s priorities, describing the digitization of the financial system as a key step toward electronic transactions.
“Our sole objective is to enable every Afghan to make payments using a card, mobile phone or other means,” he said.
Officials from several companies said around one million active customers in Afghanistan currently use HesabPay services, adding that they are committed to expanding access to financial services.
Ahmad Khalid Wadan, the owner of one of the companies, said the initiative aims to help build “a strong, secure and reliable digital financial system” in Afghanistan.
Da Afghanistan Bank has repeatedly called for the digitization of monetary and commercial transactions, saying it can improve transparency and efficiency and help expand economic activity.
Human Rights Watch in a statement on Wednesday called for the release of two UN staffers and six NGO workers in Afghanistan.
HRW said that six male staff working with the Women and Children Legal Research Foundation (WCLRF) had been “forcibly disappeared” from the NGO’s Kabul office last month. The NGO has been involved in aid programmes and advocacy on women’s and children’s rights, HRW said.
In a separate incident, Human Rights Watch also called for the release of two Afghan staff members of the UN’s Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), who were detained by IEA officials in the western city of Herat on Sunday.
The IEA’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told Reuters that he was “trying to gather details” about the recent detentions, but had “not received final clarity.”
The UN confirmed the detention of two of its staffers earlier this week. “UNAMA has not been informed of the charges against them and has not been permitted to visit them,” Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said in a briefing on Wednesday.
Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan Researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that the detentions of UNAMA staff threatened the UN’s “ability to deliver lifesaving aid.”
As the UN’s political mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA is involved in human rights monitoring and data gathering. Its reports have frequently been criticised by the IEA government in the past.
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