Afghanistan’s accusation that Pakistan bombed a de-addiction hospital in Kabul, killing at least 400 people, is the latest instance of one of modern warfare’s most critical casualties: international law and the rules-based order. These are all clear violations of international law and the rules of war that were painstakingly put in place after the Second World War through the United Nations and its institutions. Governments that abused international law tried to pretend they were in the right, and that war crimes were acts carried out by individual offenders or were mistakes. Democracies that claim to care about the rules-based order must take the lead in pressuring all aggressors to return to the rules of engagement during conflict. If the war on international law continues, no one will be immune.

Source: The Telegraph March 19, 2026 03:55 UTC