TO:

• Secretary‑General of the United Nations.
• Members of the UN Security Council and UN Human Rights Council.
• Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
• Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
• United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
• Permanent Missions of Afghanistan to the UN (New York and Geneva).
• Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
• Governments of the United States, European Union Member States and Others.
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Amnesty International.

FROM:

• Citizens of Afghanistan, the Afghan Diaspora, Civil Society Activists and Human Rights Supporters Worldwide.

DATE:

• September 21, 2026.

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1. BACKGROUND

   We, the undersigned, submit this petition in response to the grave and continuing escalation of aggression and attacks by the Pakistani military against Afghan territory. Since these airstrikes began, they have resulted in civilian deaths and injuries, displacement, and the destruction of civilian homes, infrastructure, and property.

   Over recent weeks and months, the Pakistani military has carried out repeated air and artillery strikes across multiple Afghan provinces, including in and around the capital city of Kabul. These attacks have targeted or affected civilian homes, markets, fuel and food depots, health facilities, and other civilian infrastructure, killing and injuring civilians and displacing many more. Reports by independent Afghan and international media document a continuing pattern of strikes in or near populated areas.

   The March 16, 2026 airstrike on a civilian drug-rehabilitation hospital in Kabul demands particular and urgent attention. According to reports, the facility hosted thousands of patients and staff at the time of the attack. The strike reportedly caused the deaths of more than 400 civilians and injured hundreds of others. Survivors and rescue workers described catastrophic destruction, with bodies pulled from the rubble and the hospital almost entirely destroyed and burned to the ground.
   
   

   This reported attack on a functioning civilian medical and rehabilitation facility represents an especially serious allegation. Hospitals and medical centers exist to preserve life and care for the sick and vulnerable; they must never become targets of military attack. The scale of the reported civilian harm at the Kabul rehabilitation hospital requires an immediate, independent, credible, and impartial international investigation.
   
   The attacks have continued. On September 21, 2026, Pakistan reportedly carried out further airstrikes in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar and Paktika Provinces. Afghan authorities reported that at least three civilians were killed and others injured after a house was struck in Kunar. Pakistan stated that its operations targeted alleged militant sites and claimed that 28 militants were killed. The differing accounts reinforce the need for an independent investigation to establish the facts, identify all victims, and assess responsibility.
   

   
   Pakistan claims that it targets “terrorist infrastructure,” yet it has failed to credibly refute converging reports indicating that civilian objects—including homes, markets, health facilities, and a functioning medical and rehabilitation facility—have been hit, and that civilians, including men, women, and children, have been killed and injured.

   These continuing incidents demand urgent international attention, an immediate halt to Pakistani military airstrikes and other attacks, and concrete steps toward truth, justice, accountability, and reparations for victims and survivors.
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2. INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK
   
   • Protection of Civilians and Civilian Objects
     Under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and customary international humanitarian law, parties must distinguish at all times between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives, and may only direct operations against military objectives. Intentionally directing attacks against civilians or civilian objects constitutes a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime.
   • Protection of Medical Facilities
     Hospitals and medical units, including rehabilitation centers, enjoy special protection. Their protection may only be lost if they are used, outside their humanitarian function, to commit acts harmful to the enemy and only after due warning has been given and ignored. Bombing a functioning hospital, absent clear and compelling lawful justification, is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and may amount to a war crime.

   • Rome Statute of the ICC

     • Article 8(2)(b)(i) defines as a war crime “intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities.”
     • Article 8(2)(b)(ii) defines as a war crime “intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects.”
     • Repeated, large‑scale attacks on civilian areas and medical facilities can also, when forming part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population, qualify as crimes against humanity under Article 7 (including murder and other inhumane acts).
   • Obligations of Pakistan

     Pakistan is a party to the Geneva Conventions and is bound by customary international humanitarian law and applicable human rights treaties. It must prevent and punish war crimes committed by its forces, investigate credible allegations, and provide reparation for internationally wrongful acts attributable to the state.

     Given the reported facts, massive civilian death tolls, the destruction of a medical and rehabilitation hospital, and repeated strikes in civilian areas, there are strong grounds to believe that serious violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity, have been committed.
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3. OUR DEMANDS
   • Immediate Cessation of Pakistani Attacks
     We Urge:
     
     • The UN Secretary-General, the UN Security Council, and all relevant states to demand that Pakistan immediately stop all airstrikes, artillery fire, and other military actions against Afghan cities, villages, civilians, and civilian infrastructure.
     • Pakistan to strictly comply with its obligations under international humanitarian and human-rights law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, precaution, and the protection of medical facilities.
     • The international community to take urgent diplomatic and legal measures to prevent further civilian deaths, injuries, displacement, and destruction.
   • Independent International Investigation
     We Request:
     
     • The establishment of an independent, impartial international investigative mechanism, under UN auspices or another competent international body, to investigate all Pakistani military attacks on Afghan territory since these attacks began, including the March 16, 2026 Kabul rehabilitation-hospital airstrike and the latest airstrikes of September 21, 2026.
     • A mandate to document facts; identify victims; determine the full civilian death toll, injury toll, displacement, and material damage; analyze individual, command, and state responsibility; and preserve evidence for future criminal proceedings.
     • Full, safe, and unimpeded access for investigators, UNAMA, humanitarian organizations, medical personnel, and independent journalists to all affected areas.
   • Accountability and Criminal Justice
     We Call For:
     
     • The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to consider, within the scope of its jurisdiction, information concerning alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity arising from Pakistani military operations and airstrikes in Afghanistan..
     • States with universal jurisdiction to investigate and, where appropriate and consistent with international law, prosecute individuals suspected of ordering, planning, enabling, or carrying out unlawful attacks against Afghan civilians and civilian objects.
     • Pakistan to conduct genuine, transparent, credible, and independent investigations into all of its military operations in Afghanistan and to cooperate fully with international investigative bodies.
   • Reparations for Victims and Survivors
     We Demand
     
     • Full reparations from Pakistan for victims and their families, including compensation for loss of life, injury, property damage, and displacement; restitution where possible; rehabilitation and psychosocial support; and appropriate official acknowledgment and apology.
     • Urgent support by international donors and humanitarian agencies to provide emergency medical care, shelter, food, rehabilitation, and livelihood assistance to survivors, displaced persons, and communities devastated by these attacks.
     • Long-term assistance to restore homes, health facilities, businesses, essential infrastructure, and livelihoods damaged or destroyed by the airstrikes.
   • Protection of Medical Facilities and Humanitarian Access
     We Appeal For:
     
     • Strong, explicit condemnation by the UN, WHO, ICRC, OIC, and all states of attacks on hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centers, homes, markets, and other civilian infrastructure.
     • Guarantees from all parties for safe, rapid, and unimpeded humanitarian access, evacuation and treatment of the wounded, and protection of medical and humanitarian personnel, facilities, and infrastructure.
     • Immediate protection and support for Afghan health facilities and humanitarian workers operating in communities affected by the continuing airstrikes.
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4. APPEAL TO AFGHANS AND GLOBAL CIVIL SOCIETY
   We call on all Afghans, inside the country and in the diaspora, to set aside all political, ethnic, linguistic, and regional divisions and unite in:
   • Honoring and supporting the victims, survivors, and bereaved families affected by these attacks.
   • Demanding truth, justice, accountability, and reparations through peaceful and lawful means.
   • Supporting affected communities through solidarity, advocacy, humanitarian assistance, and the responsible sharing of verified information.

We invite human-rights defenders, lawyers, health professionals, academics, journalists, faith leaders, and concerned individuals around the world to Please:

• • Endorse this petition and share it widely.
  • Use their platforms to raise awareness of the suffering of Afghan civilians and press governments and international institutions to act.
  • Support an independent investigation into the March 16 Kabul hospital strike, all subsequent Pakistani airstrikes, and every reported civilian casualty and attack on civilian infrastructure.

By signing this petition, we affirm that no state or armed actor may bomb hospitals, homes, civilians, markets, or cities with impunity. Justice and accountability for Afghan victims are essential to peace, human dignity, and regional stability.

Thank You!