At least 42 civilians killed in Afghanistan in conflict with Pakistan, UN agency says

At least 42 civilians have been killed and 104 wounded in Afghanistan in the fighting with Pakistan between February 26 and March 2, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)said on Tuesday, as the military conflict between the neighbours entered its sixth day.

Military tensions between the South Asian Islamic nations remained high on Tuesday, with Afghanistan saying it had captured another Pakistani post in the Kandahar region and the fighting between the allies-turned-foes was "still ongoing".

"The civilian casualties include those caused by indirect fire in cross-border clashes...as well as those caused by airstrikes," the UN agency said, adding that the numbers were "preliminary".

The conflict — the worst between the countries in years — was sparked last week by what Afghanistan's Taliban rulers said were retaliatory strikes on Pakistani installations in response to Pakistan's targeting of rebels in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan says Pakistani forces targeted its civilians, a charge Islamabad denies.

Islamabad has launched air-to-ground missiles at Taliban military sites over the last week, and even directly targeted the Taliban government for the first time over allegations it harbours rebels executing attacks on Pakistan from its soil.

Pakistani forces destroyed a military base in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan in a successful air operation, Pakistani security sources said on Tuesday.

UNAMA CALLS FOR HALT TO FIGHTING

Both sides have claimed to have killed scores of troops of the other and inflicted heavy damage on military facilities since the fighting began.

Reuters has not been able to verify the numbers.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, while addressing a joint session of parliament on Monday, reiterated that Islamabad would not allow territory in its neighbourhood to be used for attacks against it.

"The soil of Pakistan is sacred. We will not allow any entity — domestic or foreign — to use neighbouring territory to destabilise our peace," he said.

UNAMA called for a halt to the fighting and warned that the violence, which has displaced an estimated 16,400 households, has worsened the situation of Afghanistan's people who were still recovering from successive earthquakes in August and September that killed more than 1,400 people.

"Restrictions on movements in the border area due to the active conflict have reduced the capacity of humanitarian agencies and partners to deliver life-saving and other assistance in the most-affected areas," it said.