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Summary
While the world was agog with the Iran war, hostilities closer home caught attention for an attack on a rehab centre in Afghanistan that should make Pakistan squirm. This is another military misadventure that must stop.
Even as the US-Israel war on Iran has put the world on edge, another flare-up closer home is threatening regional stability. As Kabul has reported, at least 400 people were killed in an airstrike by Pakistan that struck a hospital in Afghanistan.
While Islamabad denied that its forces struck a civilian target, the attack has sent out shockwaves, inviting criticism from New Delhi, which described it as a “massacre dressed as a military operation.”
Killing civilians violates the conventions of warfare. Pakistan had hinted at regime change in Kabul before it deployed force in a campaign whose stated goal was to eliminate a cross-border threat of terror. But war plans rarely survive contact with reality, so this looks like just another armed misadventure.
Given how the Taliban have menaced the neighbourhood with extremism, their being toppled from power would be widely welcomed. But Pakistan’s hamhanded operations could result in deeper divisions and stronger Afghan resistance to reforms.
If Pakistan is to be a responsible actor during a time of high geopolitical flux, it should stop all forms of military aggression. Its adventurism is worsening tensions in the region.
English (US) ·