Pakistan's deadly strikes in Afghanistan prompt calls for ceasefire

Pakistan’s deadly airstrikes in Afghanistan this week have sparked global alarm and calls for ceasefire, as the world grapples with the implications of another major conflict near Iran.

The European Union called Pakistan’s attack on a medical facility in Kabul “another deadly escalation in a conflict that needs to end as soon as possible” and urged an “immediate ceasefire.” China also urged both Afghanistan and Pakistan to halt hostilities and “engage in face-to-face communication as soon as possible,” according to a foreign ministry spokesperson in Beijing.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government said Tuesday at least 400 people were killed in Pakistani airstrikes on a drug treatment hospital in Kabul. Islamabad denied hitting the facility or targeting civilians, saying the strikes were aimed at military infrastructure.

The exact death toll remains unclear. International media organizations, including Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press, reported rescue workers pulling bodies from the rubble of the rehabilitation facility. A New York Times report said at least 75 bodies were being transported in ambulances through the night and into Tuesday morning.

“Because of the targeting choice and the scale of casualties, this strike constitutes the most escalatory moment of the conflict,” said Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington. “It brings the two sides perilously close to the outbreak of all-out war.”

Despite growing calls for dialog, there is little sign Islamabad and Kabul will engage in talks. The Taliban government said Pakistan would soon receive a “crushing response,” Afghanistan’s TOLOnews reported, citing a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry.

Both countries share borders with Iran, raising the risk of broader regional instability, as there is little sign of the US and Israel scaling back their attacks on Tehran.

The overlapping tensions could trigger a “much greater conflagration than anybody wants to see,” said James Dorsey, an adjunct senior fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, warning of rising risks across the Middle East and South Asia.

Afghanistan also used drones over multiple cities in Pakistan in the past week, including near Islamabad. Pakistan said it intercepted the drones, but the debris injured four people.

Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, said earlier that operations would continue until Kabul stops supporting militant groups. Islamabad, which once supported Afghanistan’s Taliban, accuses it of hosting militant groups that plan attacks inside its territory — an allegation Kabul denies.

Relations between the two sides have steadily deteriorated since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led forces. Pakistan has reported a significant rise in violence in its border regions over the past four years.