Pakistan rejects Amnesty call for war crimes probe into Kabul airstrike

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan on Thursday rejected Amnesty International’s call for an investigation into a March airstrike on a drug rehabilitation center in the Afghan capital that the rights group said could amount to a war crime, dismissing the allegations as unsupported and describing the operation as a lawful act of self-defense.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told a news briefing in Islamabad that Pakistan “completely rejects the allegations” made by Amnesty International, calling it “unfortunate” that such serious claims had been made “without any credible evidence.”

His remarks came a day after Amnesty International said it had found no evidence to support Pakistan’s claim that Kabul’s Omid drug rehabilitation center was being used for military purposes or to store weapons and ammunition when it was struck on March 16.

Afghanistan has said the strike killed about 400 civilians. Pakistani officials dispute the death toll and maintain the strike targeted a legitimate military site.

Amnesty said it analyzed more than 60 photos and videos, including footage released by Pakistan’s military, reviewed more than 30 satellite images and interviewed witnesses and other sources. It said it asked Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry on July 9 whether an investigation had been launched and requested evidence supporting Pakistan’s justification for the strike but had received no response before publishing its report.

The strike came amid months of escalating cross-border hostilities between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of harboring militants, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, who it says carry out deadly attacks inside Pakistan. The TTP is a separate group but a close ally of Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers. Afghanistan denies the allegation.

The U.N. mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, said in May it had independently verified at least 269 civilian deaths and 122 injuries from the strike, while warning the actual toll could be significantly higher. Afghan authorities later held mass funerals for victims.

Responding to Amnesty’s findings, Andrabi said Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities continued to provide a permissive environment for militant groups, including the TTP and the banned Baloch Liberation Army, allegations Kabul has previously denied.

Thousands of Pakistanis were killed or wounded in attacks planned from Afghan territory, he said.

“Any military strikes by Pakistan were undertaken in the exercise of its right to self-defense under the principles of necessity and as a measure of last resort and were directed only and exclusively against terrorists and their logistical support bases in Afghanistan,” Andrabi said. Pakistan rejected Amnesty’s conclusions, he said.

He also called on the international community to hold Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities accountable for preventing Afghan territory from being used to launch attacks against Pakistan, saying Islamabad reserved the right to take all necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the security of its people.