400 Feared Dead, 250 injured After Kabul Airstrike
Afghan authorities claim a Pakistani airstrike hit a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, leaving hundreds feared dead, while Islamabad denies targeting civilian facilities.
KABUL: Afghan authorities have accused Pakistan of carrying out an airstrike on a major drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul late Monday, claiming the attack killed hundreds of people and injured many others. Pakistani officials, however, have denied targeting any civilian infrastructure.
According to officials from the Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan, the strike hit the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital—also referred to in some reports as the Omar Addiction Treatment Hospital—around 9 p.m. local time on March 16.
Authorities said the large rehabilitation centre, which reportedly has the capacity to house up to 2,000 patients undergoing treatment for drug addiction, suffered extensive damage. Afghan officials estimated that at least 400 people may have been killed and more than 250 injured, although the figures remain preliminary as rescue operations continue.
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Emergency workers and volunteers have been searching through debris at the site for survivors. Images from the area showed smoke rising from damaged buildings, while families gathered near the hospital searching for missing relatives. Some survivors described the aftermath as chaotic, with large sections of the complex reportedly destroyed.
Pakistan rejected the allegations, stating that its military conducted precision airstrikes targeting militant locations in Kabul and Nangarhar Province linked to groups accused of launching cross-border attacks into Pakistan. Officials in Islamabad said the claims that a hospital was deliberately targeted were “false” and maintained that the operation focused solely on militant infrastructure.
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The incident comes amid rising tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan along their shared border. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated in recent weeks, with both sides accusing each other of harbouring militant groups responsible for attacks across the frontier.
International organisations and governments have called for restraint and a thorough investigation into the incident. The United Nations has urged both countries to avoid further escalation and emphasised the protection of civilian infrastructure such as hospitals under international humanitarian law.
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Regional governments have also expressed concern over the incident. India condemned the reported attack as “barbaric,” while several international observers have called for an independent inquiry to determine the circumstances surrounding the strike.
Rescue operations were continuing on Tuesday, and officials said the casualty figures could change as more information emerges. The Taliban administration warned that Afghanistan would respond to the incident, raising concerns about further escalation in the already fragile regional security environment.
