New Lines Magazine, 16 June 2026
On-the-ground reportage by Afghan journalist Fazelminallah Qazizai on the civilian victims of Pakistan’s – so far – penultimate air strikes on Afghanistan in mid-June 2026. His conclusion:
… what stands out most clearly on the ground is this: So far, nearly all of Pakistan’s strikes inside Afghanistan have targeted civilian locations — homes, villages, hospitals, schools and markets — not military or militant positions. The dead are overwhelmingly women, children and elderly men. Whether by design or by poor intelligence, the strikes have done little to degrade the TTP’s fighting capacity. Instead, they have fueled anger among ordinary Afghans and deepened the cycle of retaliation.
Revisions:
This article was last updated on 1 Jul 2026
