56 Afghan civilians killed in conflict with Pakistan since last week: UN

The United Nations rights chief said on Friday that 56 Afghan civilians had been killed - nearly half of them children - since hostilities with neighbouring Pakistan intensified last week.



Volker Turk said "I plead with all parties to bring an end to the conflict, and to prioritise helping those experiencing extreme hardship."



The neighbours have clashed along the frontier since Feb 26, when Afghanistan launched a border offensive in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes.



Islamabad has hit back along the border and with fresh airstrikes, bombing multiple sites including the former United States air base at Bagram, the capital Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar.



Turk said that since the intensification of hostilities, "56 civilians, including 24 children and six women, have been killed".



"A further 129 people, including 41 children and 31 women, have been injured," he added.