Kabul claims 400 dead in Pak airstrike on rehab hospital

Kabul, March 17 (UNI) Afghanistan on Tuesday alleged that a Pakistani airstrike hit a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul late Monday night, killing at least 400 people and injuring about 250 others. Pakistan, however, rejected the accusation, describing it as unfounded.
Afghanistan’s Deputy Government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said in a statement posted on X that the strike occurred at around 9 pm local time and targeted the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital, a 2,000-bed facility dedicated to treating drug addiction.
“The Pakistani military regime carried out an airstrike at approximately 9pm (local time) on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul,” Fitrat said. “As a result of the attack, large sections of the hospital have been destroyed and there are serious concerns about a high number of casualties.”
He added that the death toll had so far reached 400, while around 250 others were reported injured.
“Rescue teams are currently at the scene working to control the fire and recover the remaining bodies of the victims,” Fitrat said.
The alleged strike came hours after Afghan authorities reported an exchange of gunfire along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border that killed four people inside Afghanistan. The latest incident adds to what officials described as the most intense hostilities between the two countries in recent years, with tensions now entering their third week.
Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid strongly condemned the attack, accusing Pakistan of targeting civilian infrastructure.
In a statement on X, Mujahid said: “The Pakistani military regime has once again violated Afghanistan’s airspace and targeted a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, resulting in the death and injury of addicts undergoing treatment. We strongly condemn this crime and consider such an act to be against all accepted principles and a crime against humanity.”
Pakistan, however, denied the allegations. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said no hospital had been targeted in Kabul.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the military had carried out “precision airstrikes” aimed at military installations in Kabul as well as in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province. According to him, the operations destroyed technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage facilities at two locations in Kabul.
Tarar maintained that the strikes were conducted with precision and were directed only at sites allegedly used by the Afghan Taliban administration to support militant groups.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information also dismissed the Afghan claims as misleading, stating that the operations were carefully planned to avoid civilian casualties and damage to non-military facilities.
UNI