'Assault on sovereignty': India condemns Pakistan airstrikes on Afghan territory

India on Monday condemned Pakistan's airstrikes on Afghan territory, calling the strikes a direct threat to regional peace and stability.

"India strongly condemns Pakistan's air-strikes on Afghan territory that have resulted in several civilian casualties, including women and children. This blatant act of aggression by Pakistan is an assault on Afghanistan's sovereignty and a direct threat to regional peace and stability," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Also read: Pakistani air strikes kill 36 civilians and injure 163 in Afghanistan, says Afghan Govt


India also conveyed condolences to Afghan families that have lost loved ones, and said it prays for the early recovery of those injured. New Delhi reiterated its "unwavering support" for Afghanistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Pakistani forces' ground operations and strikes killed at least 36 civilians overnight and wounded more than 160 others, Afghan officials said on Monday, as tensions between the two neighbours escalated.

Taliban deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said Pakistani forces targeted a home in Paktia's Chamkani district, killing an elderly man and a child, while other family members were injured. When residents gathered to rescue people, the area was struck again, killing 28 villagers and wounding 158. Six people, mostly women and children, were killed in a village in Giyan district, Paktika province, when another home was struck.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid separately condemned the operation, calling it a "cowardly act of aggression."

Also read: Pakistan says carried out strikes along Afghan border, 29 militants killed

Pakistan said the operations were launched in response to militant attacks across Pakistan, with its security forces carrying out a ground operation along the border late Sunday, followed by strikes against what it described as militant hideouts and safe havens, killing 29 fighters, Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.

Sunday's cross-border strikes and ground operation came less than three weeks after Pakistan's military launched airstrikes on what it said were militant hideouts in Afghanistan, ending about a month of relative calm following what Islamabad had described as an "open war" between the two countries.