India on Tuesday sharply criticised Pakistan at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) over its air strikes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where at least 30 people, most of them civilians, were reported killed on Monday.
New Delhi also accused Islamabad of misusing the UN platform with “baseless and provocative statements against India”.
Speaking at the 60th Session of the UNHRC in Geneva, Kshitij Tyagi, Counsellor at India’s Permanent Mission, said Pakistan should “focus on rescuing an economy on life support, a polity muzzled by military dominance, and a human rights record stained by persecution.”
“Instead of coveting our territory, they would do well to vacate the Indian territory under their illegal occupation and focus on rescuing an economy on life support, a polity muzzled by military dominance, and a human rights record stained by persecution — perhaps once they find time away from exporting terrorism, harbouring UN-proscribed terrorists, and bombing their own people,” Tyagi said.
He added that the Human Rights Council must remain “universal, objective and non-selective” and called for collective efforts to foster unity and constructive engagement rather than division.
Also Read : 30 killed as Pakistan Air Force bombs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa village
Pakistan Air Force strike kills 30
At least 30 people, including women and children, were killed when the Pakistan Air Force carried out strikes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tirah Valley in the early hours of Monday.
Reports said fighter jets dropped at least eight LS-6 bombs on Matre Dara village at around 2 am, targeting Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants. Police sources said Pakistani Taliban fighters had stored explosives in a compound, which detonated during the assault.
Local police officer Zafar Khan told the Associated Press that two Taliban commanders, Aman Gul and Masood Khan, were using the compound as a hideout and bomb-making facility.
He alleged that militants had been using civilians as human shields and had recently placed weapons in mosques in nearby districts.
Videos shared on social media showed injured children lying on makeshift beds as residents sifted through the wreckage.
The Pakistani government has yet to issue an official statement. A senior police officer in Tirah told that four houses were hit by the air strikes, but did not identify who had carried them out.
Meanwhile, around 2,000 people staged a protest in a nearby town on Monday afternoon, denouncing the deadly strikes.
Follow us
