India on Tuesday strongly condemned Pakistan’s “barbaric’’ attack on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul in which about 400 people were killed and over 250 wounded, calling it a blatant assault on Afghanistan’s sovereignty and a direct threat to regional peace in the holy month of Ramzan.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said the attack was a ‘’cowardly and unconscionable act of violence’’ that has claimed innocent civilian lives in a facility which can by no means be justified as a military target.
New Delhi said the attack reflects Pakistan’s persistent pattern of reckless behaviour and its repeated attempts to externalise internal failures through increasing desperate acts of violence beyond its borders.
‘’That this attack was carried out during the holy month of Ramzan, a time of peace, reflection and mercy among Muslim communities across the world, makes it all the more reprehensible. There is no faith, no law and no morality that can justify the deliberate targeting of a hospital and its patients,’’ the MEA said.
It called upon the international community to hold the perpetrators of this criminal act accountable and ensure that the wanton targeting by Pakistan of civilians in Afghanistan ceases without delay.