The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that stepped-up fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan puts civilian lives at risk. In a major escalation on Friday, Pakistan carried out airstrikes and ground attacks on targets inside Afghanistan, aggravating the country's severe humanitarian and human rights crises.
In a Friday update, OCHA expressed concern about the impact of the attacks on civilians, mentioning a reported incident at a transit and reception center at the Torkham border crossing in the east. The UN continues to call on all parties to the conflict to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, particularly to protect civilians — including aid workers — and civilian infrastructure.
Through his spokesperson, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply concerned by the escalation […] and the impact that violence is having on civilian populations.” He called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and reiterated his call for the two countries to “resolve any differences through diplomacy.”
Escalation across the border
According to officials in Islamabad and Kabul, Pakistan carried out a series of air and ground strikes against targets in Afghanistan, including military installations in Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia.
Taliban authorities in Kabul stated that they had launched a significant counteroffensive against Pakistani military positions, employing drones to attack bases within Pakistan, including those in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Pakistan’s defense minister described the military campaign as a response to unprovoked attacks by Afghan forces, and he reiterated accusations that Afghanistan is providing refuge to militant groups. Despite a ceasefire declared last October, sporadic clashes have continued along the border for months.
Both sides accuse the other of supporting militants and initiating hostilities. Some analysts now describe the situation as a state of war between Pakistan and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. On Friday, Pakistan’s defense minister said that his country was now engaged in “open war” with Afghanistan.
Fighting continued into Saturday, with cross-border exchanges and heavy clashes reported in several areas, showing no sign of abating. Both sides claimed significant casualties, though the figures differ sharply and remain independently unverified. Afghan officials alleged that Pakistani strikes caused civilian casualties, while Pakistan claimed its operations resulted in substantial militant losses.
This escalation comes after years of conflict, poverty, and natural disasters, including droughts and earthquakes, left nearly half of the population — almost 22 million people — in need of humanitarian assistance. OCHA warns that this number will only increase if the fighting escalates.
The United Nations (UN) and its humanitarian partners are closely monitoring the situation and will continue to provide support wherever possible. However, OCHA stresses that more funding is urgently needed to do so. So far, only 11 percent — or $181 million — of the $1.7 billion required to implement this year's Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) — which aims to assist 17.5 million people — has been received.
Millions of people forced back by neighboring countries
On Friday in Geneva, Richard Bennett, the UN independent human rights expert on Afghanistan, told journalists that growing tensions between Kabul and Islamabad have increased the difficulties and dangers for Afghans forced to return to their country, echoing calls for dialogue between the two countries.
In recent years, Afghanistan has seen huge numbers of its nationals — estimated at 2.7 million in 2025 — forced to return from neighboring countries, including Pakistan. Millions of Afghans live in utter poverty, deprived of their basic rights to adequate food, clean water, and access to education, healthcare, and employment.
“Significant numbers of refugees continue to return to Afghanistan, most of them forced back by neighboring countries, particularly Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The vast majority arrive with few belongings, little access to healthcare and education, and no job prospects,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva on Thursday.
He said he was disturbed by reports that several more countries are taking steps to return Afghan refugees involuntarily.
Taliban oppression of women and cuts in international funding push health system toward catastrophe
Meanwhile, Bennet informed journalists that Afghanistan is experiencing an intensifying health crisis fueled by the Taliban’s continuous assault on the rights of women and girls and a significant decline in international funding.
In a new report to the UN Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan found that the Taliban is systematically restricting women's and girls' access to healthcare by imposing gender-oppressive policies. These policies include limits on freedom of movement, the right to work, and medical education, as well as the imposition of gender segregation in health facilities.
“These policies are not isolated measures – they form an institutionalized system of gender discrimination that denies women and girls autonomy over their own bodies, health, and futures,” Bennett said.
“They provide further evidence that the Taliban is committing crimes against humanity.”
“Afghanistan’s health system was already fragile after decades of conflict, poverty, and underinvestment, as well as over-reliance on donor support. But the current crisis cannot be explained by those factors alone,” the Special Rapporteur said.
“Taliban policies have created new barriers that prevent women and girls from accessing essential services.”
Bennett expressed particular alarm over the ban on women receiving medical education, which has been in place since 2024, and its long-term impact on the health sector.
“The ban has effectively shut down the pipeline of new women health professionals. It is completely unjustifiable and puts the entire health system in jeopardy. Unless it is reversed, it will lead to unnecessary suffering, illness, and death, and could amount to femicide,” he said.
The human rights expert also stressed that massive cuts to international funding are undermining life-saving programs and seriously disrupting service delivery, pushing an already fragile system to its limits.
“For women and girls, these cuts are turning an oppressive environment into a full-scale health catastrophe,” the expert said.
“Member states need to fulfil their responsibilities and act urgently to avert severe and long-lasting harm.”
One of the world's worst humanitarian crises
Afghanistan remains in the grip of one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises. An estimated 21.9 million people, or 45 percent of the population, are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2026.
The cumulative effects of violent conflict, internal displacement, drought, and other natural disasters, such as earthquakes, have dramatically increased humanitarian needs throughout the country. Last year's surge in the number of Afghans forced or compelled to return to Afghanistan has aggravated the crisis.
The humanitarian situation continues to be driven by worsening food insecurity, recurrent shocks such as climate-driven drought and floods, large-scale inflows of returnees, frequent earthquakes, multiple disease outbreaks, and severe protection risks, especially for women and girls. The scale and severity of hunger and malnutrition in Afghanistan are worsening.
According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, only 2.7 percent of Afghanistan’s population receives food assistance. Meanwhile, an estimated 17.4 million people — over a third of the population — are projected to face crisis levels of hunger (IPC Phase 3) or worse between November 2025 and March 2026. This includes 4.7 million people facing emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4).