Kabul: Hundreds of people were reportedly killed or injured after an airstrike struck a major drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul, with the Taliban government blaming Pakistan for the attack. Taliban officials claimed the death toll has reached around 400, with another 250 people injured, making it one of the deadliest incidents reported in the country in recent years
Videos circulating on social media showed a large explosion followed by flames and thick columns of smoke rising from the hospital complex. Other visuals showed security personnel using flashlights while carrying bodies from the scene as firefighters struggled to control the blaze.
According to Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Pakistani military carried out an airstrike around 9 pm targeting the 2,000-bed Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital.
Fitrat said large portions of the facility were destroyed in the bombardment, and rescue teams were working to extinguish the fire and recover bodies from the debris. In a post on X, he stated that the attack had caused massive casualties, with hundreds feared dead or injured.
"The Pakistani military regime carried out an airstrike at approximately 9:00 PM this evening on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital, a 2,000-bed facility dedicated to the treatment of drug addiction. 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. Unfortunately, the death toll has so far reached 400, while around 250 others have been reported injured. Rescue teams are currently at the scene working to control the fire and recover the remaining bodies of the victims," Fitrat wrote on X.
Pakistan Denies Allegations Of Strike
However, Pakistan strongly denied targeting a hospital. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Mosharraf Zaidi, rejected the allegations, stating that no medical facility was struck during the operation, as reported by NDTV.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the Pakistani military had conducted precision airstrikes against military installations in Kabul and in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar Province.
According to Tarar, the strikes targeted technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage facilities allegedly being used by the Taliban government to assist militant groups.
Pakistan-Afghanistan Conflict
The escalation comes amid rising tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with Islamabad repeatedly accusing Kabul of failing to curb the activities of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group responsible for attacks inside Pakistan. The Taliban government has consistently denied these allegations.
The latest airstrikes mark one of the most serious flare-ups between the two countries in recent months and could threaten the fragile ceasefire along their nearly 2,600-km border.
The development also comes at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions in the region, following ongoing military developments involving Iran, the United States and Israel.
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