'Old practice ...': India blasts Pakistan over airstrikes on Afghanistan

Pakistan carried out airstrikes in certain areas in Afghanistan in what it said was aimed at targeting some terrorist hideouts.

India on Monday "unequivocally" condemned Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan and said it is Islamabad's old practice to blame its neighbours for its internal failures.

Pakistan carried out airstrikes in certain areas in Afghanistan in what it said was aimed at targeting some terrorist hideouts.

In response to media queries regarding airstrikes on Afghan civilians, the Official Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: We unequivocally condemn any attack on innocent civilians. https://t.co/0snyaxiqlBpic.twitter.com/XAr3z6GNpw

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"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," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

"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," he said.

The airstrikes on the Barmal district in Afghanistan’s Paktika province on the night of December 24 killed at least 46 people, including women and children.

Six more people, mainly children, sustained injuries in the attack, according to the Taliban government.

The Pakistani airstrikes impacted seven villages. Laman suffered major casualties, including the deaths of five members of a single family.

Following the attacks, tensions flared at the border, leading to violent clashes. A Pakistani paramilitary soldier was killed, and seven others were injured in cross-border exchanges of fire with Afghan forces. The incident followed protests by hundreds of Afghans against Pakistan’s deadly airstrikes.

Security officials from both countries confirmed sporadic skirmishes, involving heavy weaponry, between border forces along the boundary separating Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Afghanistan’s Khost province.