'Cowardly, unconscionable act of violence': India condemns 'barbaric' Pakistani airstrike on Kabul hospital
India on Tuesday condemned the Pakistani airstrike on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Afghanisthan Kabul, that killed at least 400 people and wounded several others.
Terming the attack "barbaric" and "cowardly" the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) alleged Pakistan was "trying to dress up a massacre as a military operation."
"This is a cowardly and unconscionable act of violence that has claimed the lives of a large number of civilians in a facility which can by no means be justified as a military target," the MEA said in a sharply-worded statement.
MEA also said that “the heinous act of aggression,” was also a “blatant assault of Afghanistan’s sovereignty and a direct threat to regional peace and stability.”
“It reflects Pakistan’s persistent pattern of reckless behaviour and its repeated attempts to externalize internal failures through increasingly desperate acts of violence beyond its borders,” MEA said.
“That this attack was carried out during the holy month of Ramzan, a time of peace, reflection, and mercy among Muslim communities across the world, makes it all the more reprehensible.”
MEA further stated that there is “no faith, no law and no morality” that can justify such an act of deliberately “targeting a hospital and its patients”.
The foreign ministry further urged the international community to hold its perpetrators of this criminal act accountable and to ensure that the “wanton targeting by Pakistan of civilians in Afghanistan ceases without delay”.
India also offered its deepest condolences to the bereaved families, and wished for a swift recovery to those injured.
The MEA said that the country stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan in this tragic moment.
“We also reiterate our unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan,” the MEA said.
Earlier, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish had called out Pakistan for its habit of "fabricating imaginative" tales of Islamophobia in neighbouring countries, questioning how Islamabad's own brutal repression of Ahmadiyyas or air-bombing campaigns during Ramzan against Afghanistan can be characterised as.
"India's western neighbour is an excellent example of fabricating imaginative tales of Islamophobia in their neighbourhood," Harish said.
"One wonders what would brutal repression of Ahmadiyyas in this country be termed, or the large-scale refoulement of the helpless Afghans or air-bombing campaigns in this Holy Month of Ramadan?" Harish said.
Harish was addressing the UN General Assembly commemoration of the International Day to Combat Islamophobia on Monday.
The Congress also condemned the air strike and asserted that such barbarism must be strongly rejected globally.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "On behalf of the Indian National Congress we are deeply distressed by the horrific loss of civilian lives in Kabul following the recent air strikes by Pakistan on a hospital which killed nearly 400 people."
"We condemn such acts against humanity in the strongest possible terms.
Such barbarism must be strongly rejected globally," he said on X.
Kharge extended his heartfelt condolences to Afghan brothers and sisters and to the families who have lost their loved ones.
"India shares longstanding bonds of friendship and goodwill with the people of Afghanistan. In this difficult moment, we stand in sympathy with our Afghan neighbours and pray for peace, healing, and stability for their nation," Kharge said.
Afghanistan's deputy government spokesman said early Tuesday that the death toll from an air strike by Pakistan that hit a hospital treating drug users in the Afghan capital Kabul has increased to 400.
In a post on X, Hamdullah Fitrat said the strike on Monday night had destroyed large sections of the hospital.
He said the death toll so far stood at 400, while a further 250 people had been reported injured.
Fitrat said rescue teams were trying to control the fire at the building and recover the bodies of the victims.
The fighting began in late February after Afghanistan launched cross-border attacks in response to Pakistani air strikes inside Afghanistan that Kabul said killed civilians.
The clashes disrupted a ceasefire brokered by Qatar in October after earlier fighting killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants.