(Image source from: Newsdrum.in)

At least 30 individuals, including women and children, lost their lives due to airstrikes carried out by the Pakistani Air Force in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region on Monday. This tragedy happened around 2 am when fighter jets from Pakistan dropped eight LS-6 bombs on the village of Matre Dara, situated in the Tirah Valley, leading to a terrible loss of life. All those who died were non-combatants. Local news sources indicated that many others were hurt, though the details of their conditions are unclear. Heart-wrenching images and videos from the scene displayed bodies, including those of young children, scattered about. Rescue teams were working to find bodies beneath the debris, raising concerns that the number of fatalities could increase. There have been numerous counter-terrorism efforts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the past, resulting in many civilian deaths reported in this area. Earlier this year, in June, Amnesty International stated that the ongoing drone strikes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa showed a troubling disregard for civilian lives in Pakistan.

"Pakistani officials have not taken necessary steps to safeguard the lives and belongings of civilians in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who continue to suffer due to the increasing number of drone strikes in the area. The drone strike last Friday, which resulted in the death of a child, is part of a worrying trend of attacks that have intensified since March of this year," said Isabelle Lassee, who is the Deputy Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International. According to the police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province has experienced 605 terror-related incidents from January to August this year, leading to the deaths of at least 138 civilians and 79 police officers. In August alone, 129 incidents were reported, including the deaths of six personnel from the Pakistan Army and the paramilitary Federal Constabulary.

Following Operation Sindoor, which aimed at eliminating nine significant terrorist hideouts throughout Pakistan and in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) are setting up new bases deep within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, close to the Afghan border. The province’s hilly landscape, along with its borders with Afghanistan, provides natural cover. Many locations still have hideouts that were constructed during the anti-Soviet Afghan war in the 1980s and during the invasion of Afghanistan by the United States after the September 11 attacks.