More than 400 people were killed and 250 wounded in a Pakistani air strike on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Taliban government said on Tuesday.
Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesperson for the Taliban administration, said the strike destroyed “large sections” of the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital, a 2,000-bed facility in the Afghan capital.
“Unfortunately, the death toll has so far reached 400, while around 250 others have been reported injured,” he wrote in a post on social media platform X.
Pakistan denied the allegation, saying its armed forces had “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure” in overnight strikes.
Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesperson for Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, dismissed the Afghan claims of civilian casualties, describing them on X as part of the “Taliban’s constant lies.” He said Pakistan’s strikes would continue until “the elimination of terrorists and their infrastructure.”
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the armed forces had “successfully carried out precision air strikes” against what he described as “terrorism-sponsoring military installations,” including targets in Kabul.
The Afghan Red Crescent said its teams were engaged in rescue operations at the hospital and shared footage showing responders attending to what it described as the “martyred and wounded.”
U.N. Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan Richard Bennett said he was “dismayed” by reports of Pakistani air strikes causing civilian casualties.
Zabihullah Mujahid, another Taliban spokesperson, condemned the strike, calling it “a crime against humanity” and saying it violated “all accepted principles.”
China called for restraint, with foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian saying Beijing would continue efforts “to de-escalate tensions and improve relations between the two countries.”
India, which has recently strengthened ties with the Taliban authorities, also condemned the strike. “That this attack was carried out during the holy month of Ramzan … makes it all the more reprehensible,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement.