ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has strongly rejected a recent Amnesty International report on its March 16–17 airstrikes in Afghanistan, saying the document ignores key evidence and relies on the Taliban’s version of events without independent verification.
According to Pakistan, Amnesty International identified Isabella Lesse as the author of the report on Camp Phoenix. However, Pakistani officials claimed their own investigation found that the report was actually prepared by the organisation’s Regional Director for South Asia rather than the Acting Regional Director.
Pakistan alleged that the report was drafted by Smriti Singh, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for South Asia, and later published under Isabella Lesse’s name. Islamabad claimed the move was intended to conceal the identity of the report’s principal author. It further accused Amnesty International of producing biased reports and alleged that the organisation had become a propaganda tool of India’s external intelligence agency, RAW. Pakistan said the report lacked credibility and should be viewed with skepticism.
Pakistan said the March airstrikes were carried out on the basis of credible intelligence. It maintained that the operation targeted a drone workshop and an ammunition storage site allegedly located inside Camp Phoenix.
According to Pakistan, Camp Phoenix was established by NATO as a military base in 2003. An Omid Drug Rehabilitation Centre was later built within part of the compound in 2010. Authorities said the facility ceased operations after a new Omid Hospital opened in 2016, approximately 5.6 kilometres away by air and 20 kilometres by road.
Pakistan said the former rehabilitation centre was no longer operational at the time of the strikes. It claimed the old barracks were being used to house around 350 members of the Taliban’s Qata Yarmook unit. Islamabad said those barracks were not the intended target and that the strikes were aimed at nearby drone workshops and weapons storage facilities.
Pakistan said ammunition stored at the site triggered secondary explosions after the strikes, causing a fire that damaged the old barracks and resulted in casualties among Taliban personnel stationed there.
Islamabad accused the Taliban administration of using the abandoned Omid facility for propaganda purposes. It rejected Taliban claims that civilians had been killed, saying those killed were Taliban fighters.
Pakistan also challenged the casualty figures released after the incident. It said the Taliban initially claimed that 408 civilians were killed and 165 others injured. It added that the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) later reported 143 deaths but did not identify the victims as civilians. Pakistan further claimed that funeral prayers were held for only about 50 people following the incident.
Pakistan accused Amnesty International of relying on Taliban allegations without conducting an independent investigation. It said the report ignored critical evidence and raised serious concerns about the organisation’s impartiality.
Islamabad also warned that reports based on inaccurate information could embolden militant groups. It argued that such reporting could encourage armed groups to move weapons, drones and military infrastructure into populated civilian areas in an effort to deter future strikes.
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Pakistan further alleged that the Taliban administration had already begun relocating drones and ammunition stockpiles into civilian neighbourhoods. It warned that what it described as one-sided reporting by international organisations could reinforce that practice.
