Pakistani cross-border strikes violate Afghan sovereignty

Pakistani air and drone strikes inside Afghanistan are the subject of this position. It holds that such cross-border strikes violate Afghan sovereignty and cannot be justified as counterterrorism, pointing to civilian deaths, including children, reported by Afghan officials and the United Nations.

The Taliban-led government in Kabul voices the position and condemns the strikes. In the Pakistan-Afghanistan border conflict it appears in two forms: as a charge of sovereignty violation in outlets associated with India, and as an alarm over civilian harm and escalation in Western and allied outlets.

Pakistan answers that its strikes hit militant hideouts and drone launch sites after attacks on its territory, and the two sides regularly give different casualty figures for the same operation. The events of recent months show repeated Pakistani strikes, Afghan denials that militants were present, a ceasefire that appears to be cracking and renewed fighting along the border.