MISSILES are raining down across the region. The calculations are securitised, strategic, or sinister. What is lost amidst the grandstanding and analysis is consideration for the human toll of conflict.

Fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan has reached unprecedented levels, with Islamabad launching attacks in retaliation for escalating cross-border militant attacks. Pakistan has drawn its red line, demanding the Afghan Taliban put an end to terrorism emanating from Afghanistan. This is fitting given the increasingly egregious cross-border infiltrations, particularly in KP. But Pakistan must not forget the human cost and the further isolation of the Afghan people, particularly Afghan women.

The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is dire. More than 17 million people are experiencing crisis levels of hunger, a number that disproportionately includes women and girls. Four million children are acutely malnourished. Following the slashing of US development aid, only 2.7 per cent of the Afghan population is receiving food assistance. The drivers for this widespread food insecurity are complex, and include economic challenges, climate disasters and reduced international aid. But Pakistan has played a direct role in Afghan food........

© Dawn