KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – At least 56 civilians have been killed and 129 others wounded in Afghanistan due to airstrikes and cross-border clashes between Taliban forces and Pakistani military, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in its latest update.
UNAMA’s latest update, covering 26 February to 5 March and released on Friday, indicates that women and children made up 55% of civilian casualties during this period.
UNAMA highlighted a particularly deadly incident on 27 February in Barmal district of Paktika province, where airstrikes killed 14 civilians, including four women, two girls, five boys, and three men, and wounded six others, including two women, one girl, and two boys.
The UN mission noted that civilian fatalities in the latest clashes have surpassed those recorded during cross-border hostilities in October 2025, when 47 civilians were killed, and 456 were injured.
UNAMA documented at least 70 civilians killed and 478 injured in Afghanistan from cross-border incidents in the last three months of 2025. Between January 1 and February 22, 2026, 13 civilians were killed and 12 wounded in airstrikes and shelling in Nangarhar province.
The UN mission renewed its call on both sides to implement protocols to prevent civilian harm and fulfill obligations under international humanitarian law.
An earlier UNAMA update on Tuesday reported 146 civilian casualties, including 42 deaths and 104 injuries.
Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the clashes affected 10 provinces, including Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar, Khost, Kunar, Paktia, Paktika, Laghman, Parwan, and Nuristan.
In its situation update titled “Humanitarian Impact of Afghanistan-Pakistan Military Escalation,” released on Thursday, OCHA stated that an estimated 16,370 families were newly displaced, mostly in eastern Afghanistan. Many had already been affected by a powerful earthquake in the region last year, bringing the total number of displaced families to 23,370, or around 163,590 people.
The agency said airstrikes also damaged civilian infrastructure, including a 20-bed emergency hospital at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) transit center in Torkham, Nangarhar.
According to OCHA, Kabul International Airport remains operational, but security disruptions and regional airspace restrictions linked to the US–Iran conflict have affected flight operations. The UN Humanitarian Air Service suspended regular services to Jalalabad and Kandahar, maintaining only weekly flights to Dushanbe. Flights to Kandahar are expected to resume on 8 March.
The latest clashes began on 27 February after the Taliban launched a retaliatory operation against Pakistani positions following earlier Pakistani airstrikes in Nangarhar and Paktika. Pakistan has since conducted additional airstrikes while cross-border fighting continues. Both sides claim to have inflicted heavy losses, though independent verification of military casualties is unavailable.
Regional leaders, including Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and countries such as Russia and China, have offered to mediate and called for de-escalation. The United Nations and several governments have urged an immediate halt to hostilities.
The clashes are the latest in a series of confrontations along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Previous fighting in October 2025 lasted several days and led to dozens of deaths before a fragile ceasefire was mediated by Qatar and Turkey. Border crossings remain closed, halting trade and movement of people and causing significant financial losses for traders.
Relations between Pakistan and the Taliban-led Afghan government have remained strained since the Taliban returned to power in 2025. Islamabad accuses the Taliban of sheltering Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leaders and fighters and enabling cross-border attacks, allegations the Taliban deny.
The UN continues to call for urgent measures to protect civilians, restore humanitarian access, and ensure that displaced families receive immediate assistance.
