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New Delhi: India on Monday (June 29) condemned Pakistan’s airstrikes in Afghanistan over the weekend as a “reckless” and “blatant act of aggression” that threatens regional peace, and the UN’s assistance mission in Kabul has confirmed that the attacks killed at least 28 civilians while injuring 49 others.

In a statement the external affairs ministry said that India strongly condemns the Pakistani airstrikes conducted in the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, which Islamabad said targeted terrorist hideouts.

“This blatant act of aggression by Pakistan is an assault on Afghanistan’s sovereignty and a direct threat to regional peace and stability,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

He said the incident “reflects Pakistan’s persistent pattern of reckless behaviour and its futile attempt to externalise internal failures through desperate acts of violence beyond its borders”, adding to condole the deaths from the strikes and underlining India’s “unwavering support for Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

Afghanistan said on Monday that the Pakistani airstrikes in its Paktia, Paktika and Kunar provinces hit houses and killed 36 civilians in addition to injuring 163 others.

During one of the airstrikes, in Paktia, a Pakistani aircraft after killing an elderly man as well as a child by bombing their........

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