New Delhi, March 18 : The war in Afghanistan is turning out to be a genocide in which Pakistan has been mercilessly targeting innocent civilians. The death count of civilians following the hospital strike that killed 400 now stands at 835.

Experts say that the real cause of the war is not Islamabadâ??s concern about terrorism. Pakistan has, without proof, accused the Afghan Taliban of backing the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The real issue for the Pakistanis is Afghanistanâ??s independence.

Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, it has refused to bow down to the Pakistanis. The Afghan Taliban made it clear that Afghanistan can no longer be treated as a Pakistani province. The Taliban also does not want any interference when it comes to Afghanistanâ??s foreign policy.

Officials say that the war that Pakistan started is not justified one bit. While Pakistani aggression in Afghanistan is at its peak, there is also a narrative that is being built up, which aims at blaming the Afghans for deaths in Pakistan.

The Pakistani establishment, which has been questioned at home about the need for the war, has come up with a strategy to legitimise its actions. The ISI has instructed its extremist proxies to target local Pakistanis and then pass it off as though it was carried out by the Afghans.

The recent targeting of the Shia population in Pakistan has been passed off as attacks carried out by Afghans or those who had travelled to Afghanistan in recent times.

An official said that Pakistan has faced sectarian violence for a long time. Pakistan, however, does not want to accept this as an internal problem. Such problems were persistent even when the Taliban was out of power. However, with the start of the war and the need to justify the same, the ISI is making an internal problem seem like an external one.

It is trying to put the blame on the Afghans and the Taliban for the sectarian violence that is taking place in Pakistan, the official added. Accusing the Afghan Taliban of backing the TTP to carry out strikes in Pakistan is also a way of misleading the Pakistani people, another official said.

The TTP has been in a battle with the Pakistani establishment for a long time. Attacks were carried out in Pakistan even when the Taliban was out of power in Afghanistan. Further, the Pakistani establishment has long tried to suggest that the TTP was created by the Afghan Taliban. Another official said that this is a false narrative and the TTP is not a creation of the Afghan Taliban. Why would the Afghan Taliban create a breakaway group to carry out attacks in Pakistan, the official said.

The real problem began in 2021 when the Taliban refused to adhere to Pakistanâ??s demands and directives. To justify its aggression in Afghanistan, Pakistan has falsely accused the Taliban of backing the TTP.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that at first, there were many within Pakistan who were opposed to a war with Afghanistan. However, the Pakistani establishment has successfully managed to change that narrative. If one looks at the social media handles being run by the Pakistanis, it is filled with hate for Afghanistan. There are posts which justify the killings of civilians in Afghanistan.

The official explained that the attack on the Omid/Ibn Sina rehabilitation hospital in Kabul was the worst that the country had ever witnessed. A total of 400 innocents were killed in Pakistani airstrikes.

Pakistan, however, has denied that it had hit the hospital. The people of Pakistan are either quiet when such incidents take place, or on other occasions are seen celebrating the killings of civilians.

Officials say that the change in the mindset of the people towards Afghanistan and its people, thanks to the fake narrative by the establishment, is truly dangerous and disturbing. Since the start of the war in late February, 835 civilians have been killed in Pakistani airstrikes and shelling. This includes 87 women and 22 children. More than 1,300 civilians have been injured, and 540 homes have been destroyed. Further, 8,000 families across Afghanistan have been displaced. The Pakistanis have destroyed 26 mosques and eight madrasas, five hospitals in Kabul, Kandahar and Nangarhar.

Hospitals are being hit at a time when there is limited medical capacity amid rising casualties. The areas in Afghanistan, which have been worst hit, are Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar, Khost, Paktika, Paktia, Kunar, and Laghman.

/IANS