A cascade of Pakistani airstrikes tore through villages in eastern Afghanistan last night, killing at least 28 civilians, sources on the ground confirm. The bombs, aimed at alleged militant hideouts, instead ripped through homes and a market in Khost province. Women and children are among the dead. The attack came without warning or coordination with Afghan authorities, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Britain’s Foreign Office was quick to react. A statement released this morning condemned the strikes as a “violation of international law” and called for an immediate cessation of cross-border military operations. The British ambassador to Afghanistan delivered a formal protest to Pakistan’s charge d’affaires in Kabul. “Unlawful use of force against civilian populations cannot be justified,” the statement reads.
The numbers are grim. Local hospital records, obtained by this journalist, list 28 bodies, with 17 more wounded. Names and ages are scribbled in Pashto. One entry reads “Amina, age 4, shrapnel to chest.” The dead include farmers, shopkeepers, and a teacher. No militant leaders have been confirmed killed.
Pakistan’s military, through its press wing, claims the strikes targeted “hideouts of terrorists” responsible for attacks on Pakistani soldiers. They provided no evidence. No names of alleged militants. No proof of coordination with the Taliban government, which now controls Afghanistan. This is a familiar pattern: bombs first, questions never.
I’ve seen this before. In 2022, similar strikes hit Kunar province. The official toll was lower. The real toll never surfaced. Money laundering, corruption, and now this: a state killing civilians under the banner of counter-terrorism. The real terrorists hide in boardrooms, not caves.
Britain’s condemnation is long overdue. The Foreign Office had classified intelligence suggesting civilian casualties were likely. A source inside the department leaked a memo to me, dated three days before the strikes. It warned of “high risk of collateral damage.” No one stopped the planes.
The Taliban administration, struggling for legitimacy, has called for an emergency UN session. Afghanistan’s acting defence minister, who rose through the ranks of the insurgency, accused Pakistan of “state terrorism.” He’s not wrong. But the Taliban’s own hands are dirty with the blood of civilians.
This is not about party politics. It’s about power. Unaccountable power. Pakistan’s generals answer to no one. The ISI, the spy agency that funds and arms proxies, operates without oversight. The civilian government in Islamabad, weak and fractured, cannot control the military. British diplomats know this. They’ve known for years. Yet they do business with the same generals.
Britain’s condemnation must be backed by action. Sanctions on senior Pakistani commanders. Suspension of military aid. A public inquiry into how British intelligence assessments were ignored. Anything less is complicity.
The bodies are still in the morgue. Families are digging graves. The count will rise. It always does. And the men who ordered the strikes will sleep soundly, their bank accounts full, their consciences empty. This is the system. I will not look away.
