India condemned Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan's Kunar and Paktika provinces at a foreign-ministry briefing on September 22, 2026. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said aggression against a sovereign neighbour damaged regional peace and security. He offered condolences for civilian deaths and reiterated India's support for Afghanistan's independence, territorial integrity and the welfare of its people.
The briefing also included a separate question about Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir's stated determination to defeat terrorism. Jaiswal said Pakistan needed to demonstrate its commitment through credible action against cross-border terrorism. His response was India's diplomatic position; the briefing did not provide a site-by-site investigation of the airstrikes or independently establish the identities of those killed.
The accounts of the strikes differed. DD India, carrying an ANI report, said Afghan authorities reported three civilian deaths and four injuries in Kunar, with a house and shop damaged in Paktika. Pakistan said it had targeted militants and killed 28. These claims describe different assessments of the operation and cannot be combined into one verified casualty total.
In a later statement dated October 1, UNAMA confirmed that the September 21 Kunar airstrike had killed at least three civilians and injured four others. The same statement separately reported ten civilian deaths and nine injuries in new strikes in Kunar and Helmand on October 1, most of those killed being children. It called for de-escalation and prevention of further civilian harm.
The September incident followed earlier cross-border strikes documented by the UN mission. Its June 29 statement reported at least 28 civilians killed and 49 injured in attacks the previous evening across Paktya, Paktika and Kunar. Those included 22 deaths in Chamkani and six in Gyan, while two children were injured in Marawara. Those June figures concern separate incidents, not additions to September's toll.
