Afghan envoy at UN lodges official complaint with Security Council over Pak airstrikes in Kunar, Khost

The Charge d’Affaires at Afghanistan’s UN mission here has lodged an official complaint with the Security Council over airstrikes launched by Pakistan in the eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar and Khost this month, saying cross-border shellings by the Pakistani military forces are “reprehensible'' and these breaches will further destabilize peace and security in the region.

Naseer Ahmad Faiq, the Charge d’Affaires at the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations wrote to the President of the Security Council for the month of April, the UK, that the airstrikes by the Pakistani Air Force inside Afghanistan are an “aggression against territorial integrity” of Afghanistan.

These airstrikes are a “flagrant breach of international laws”, principles of the UN Charter, UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, including on ‘Kabul Declaration on Good-Neighbourly Relations', he said.

Faiq, in the “letter of complaint”, which he has requested be circulated as an official document of the UN Security Council, writes that the persistent violations of Afghanistan's territory by Pakistani military forces through cross-border shelling, construction of military posts and fence inside Afghanistan’s soil have been going on for over a decade.

He said that the cross-border shelling which has caused civilian casualties, displacement and destruction of public and private properties is particularly of high concern.

“These acts are reprehensible and must be stopped. Continuation of these breaches will impact the relations of the two nations and it will further destabilise the peace and security in Afghanistan and the region,” he wrote.

Noting that this long-standing issue has been brought to the notice of the Security Council through letters on three previous occasions, Faiq expressed hope that necessary measures are taken by the Council to address the matter effectively.

In a separate press statement dated April 16, the Afghan mission “strongly” condemned the Pakistani airstrikes in Khost and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan that had killed over 40 people, including women and children.

The press statement added that the cross-border shellings by the Pakistani military in the eastern provinces of Afghanistan under the pretext of fighting terrorism have caused a high number of civilian casualties and displacement of local Afghan people for more than a decade.

“We emphasise that there should be a holistic approach in fighting against terrorism and violent extremism. There is no justification for aggression and killing of civilians under any circumstances,” the statement said.

“The Afghan people have already suffered from terrorist acts and they have been the victim of terrorism for the past 20 years. We call on Pakistan to immediately stop these acts of aggression and respect the territorial integrity of Afghanistan,” it said.

The Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations had said last December that Faiq, Minister Counsellor, has “assumed the leadership of the Mission in the capacity of Charge d’Affaires.'' 

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