India condemns Pak airstrikes in Afghanistan, backs Taliban

India on Monday condemned Pakistan's airstrikes on Afghanistan, terming it as an "old practice" of Islamabad to blame its neighbours for its internal failures.

"We have noted the media reports on airstrikes on Afghan civilians, including women and children, in which several precious lives have been lost. We unequivocally condemn any attack on innocent civilians. It is an old practice of Pakistan to blame its neighbours for its own internal failures. We have also noted the response of an Afghan spokesperson in this regard," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Afghan government, was quoted by AP as saying that those killed in the strikes that targeted four locations in Barmal, a district in the Afghan province of Paktika, were refugees. Six others were also wounded.


Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesperson Mohammad Khurasani claimed in a statement that 50 people, including 27 women and children, died in the strikes. He said they were "unarmed refugees" who fled to Afghanistan because of Pakistan's offensive in the northwest.

TTP - a close ally of the Afghan Taliban - also shared photos, alleging they were of children killed during the Pakistani operation. Afghanistan's foreign ministry in Kabul summoned the Pakistani envoy and lodged a strong protest over the strikes. In a statement, the ministry said while a representative of the civilian government of Pakistan was busy in talks with Afghan officials, the strikes were carried out by Pakistani forces to "create mistrust in the relations between the two countries".