"I plead with all parties to bring an end to the conflict, and to prioritise helping those experiencing extreme hardship," Volker Turk said in a statement.

The neighbors have clashed along the frontier since February 26, when Afghanistan launched a border offensive in retaliation for Pakistani air strikes.

Islamabad has hit back along the border and with fresh air strikes, bombing multiple sites including the former United States air base at Bagram, the capital Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar.

Turk said that since the intensification of hostilities, "56 civilians, including 24 children and six women, have been killed".

"A further 129 people, including 41 children and 31 women, have been injured," he said.

And since the start of the year, the numbers are even higher, with 69 civilians killed in Afghanistan and 141 injured, Turk added.

Pakistan insists it has not killed any civilians in the conflict. Casualty claims from both sides are difficult to verify independently.

"Pakistan categorically reiterates that all counter-terrorism operations conducted by its security forces are carried out with the highest degree of precision, professionalism, and responsibility," Pakistan's Minister for Information and Broadcasting Atta Ullah Tarar said.

"Our armed forces take extensive precautions to prevent any collateral damage and to ensure the protection of civilians. Operations are meticulously planned so that civilian areas remain completely safe."

In a letter to The Jakarta Post on April 14, the Pakistani Embassy in Jakarta reiterated that Pakistan has “exercised restraint and pursued diplomatic channels”, but continues to face persistent cross-border threats originating from Afghan territory that cause “significant loss of life and instability”, while affecting the security and well-being of millions of Pakistanis.

After targeted counterterrorism strikes, the embassy claimed terrorist-linked sites in Afghanistan are routinely rebranded as civilian facilities, such as hospitals or shelters, to manufacture outrage and deflect accountability.

“Terrorist elements are embedded within civilian areas, with facilitators and support networks used as shields, enabling both operational cover and propaganda exploitation,” the Pakistani Embassy in Jakarta wrote.

It added Afghanistan’s Taliban government failed to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and allowed training camps, recruitment centers and operational hubs to function openly on Afghan soil, while “consistently denies the presence of terrorist networks”.

Pakistan’s “counterterrorism actions are intelligence-driven, precise and limited to terrorist hideouts, logistics nodes and operational infrastructure,” the embassy went on to say.

“These measures are consistent with the right of self-defense under international law and are aimed solely at protecting civilians and maintaining national security.”

The UN refugee agency said Thursday that around 115,000 Afghans and 3,000 people in Pakistan had been displaced by the fighting in the past week.

"Civilians on both sides of the border are now having to flee from air strikes, heavy artillery fire, mortar shelling and gunfire," Turk said.

He lamented that a new wave of violence was affecting people "whose lives have been tormented by violence and misery for so long".

He highlighted that over two million Afghans had returned to Afghanistan since Pakistan started to implement its "Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan" in September 2023.

And nearly as many were believed to remain in Pakistan, where Turk said many face constant fear of deportation.

"As a result of the violence, humanitarian assistance is unable to reach many of those desperately in need. This is piling misery on misery," the rights chief said.

He called on "the Pakistan military and Afghan de facto security forces to end immediately their fighting, and to prioritize helping the millions who depend on aid".

Editor’s note: This article was updated on April 14, 2026 to include the Pakistani Embassy in Jakarta’s response to the story in a letter sent directly to The Jakarta Post.

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