Kabul, Afghanistan
Reuters
—
A Pakistani airstrike on a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul killed more than 400 people and injured 265 others, an Afghan Taliban government spokesman said Tuesday, in the deadliest attack since fighting between the two countries began in October last year.
Pakistan rejected the statement as false and misleading, saying on Monday night that it had “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist-supporting infrastructure.”
The airstrike on Kabul came hours after China said it was willing to continue mediating efforts to ease tensions and urged the two sides to return to negotiations.
Mediation efforts by Qatar, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia had previously failed.
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan al-Muttaqi said Afghanistan has lost confidence in Pakistan’s intentions regarding a diplomatic solution, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The conflict is the deadliest between South Asia’s Muslim neighbors, who share a 2,600-kilometre (1,600-mile) border.
Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said in a post on X that the airstrike took place at 9pm (12:30pm ET) on Monday and targeted the state-run Omid Hospital, a 2,000-bed drug rehabilitation center.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said Omid Hospital is located several miles from Camp Phoenix. Camp Phoenix is a “military terrorist ammunition and equipment storage site” targeted by the department.
“Secondary explosions visible after the attack clearly indicate the presence of a large ammunition depot,” Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tallah said in a post on X.
‘Hundreds’ killed in conflicting accounts of strikes in Pakistan, Afghanistan
Afghanistan said the attack hit a drug treatment center, killing “hundreds” of people, while Pakistan said an ammunition depot was targeted. Reported by CNN’s Sophia Saifi.
Camp Phoenix, an abandoned NATO military base in the city, was converted into a drug treatment center about 10 years ago and was officially called Ibn Sina Drug Addiction Treatment Hospital, but locals called it Omid Camp, or Camp of Hope, according to Kabul residents, including a Reuters reporter.
They said it was this center that was attacked, adding that there is no connection between Omid Hospital and Omid Camp.
Fighting between the once close allies escalated last month with Pakistan’s airstrikes in Afghanistan, with Islamabad announcing attacks on military and militant positions in Afghanistan.
Islamabad said Kabul has become a safe haven for militants launching attacks into Pakistan. The Taliban denied the claims and said tackling the insurgency was Pakistan’s internal matter.
At the site of the airstrike, traces of flames remained on the blackened one-story building. Elsewhere, buildings were reduced to piles of wood and metal, with only a few bunk beds left intact in some places, and blankets, personal items and bedding strewn about.
Afghan interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Khani said 408 people were killed and 265 injured.
Afghan authorities said the victims were taken to hospitals around Kabul, but did not provide details on the number of casualties.
Another Taliban official, Hafizullah Marouf, said at least 102 bodies had been taken to the Kabul Forensic Department.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid added that most of those killed were civilians and addicts.
Reuters could not confirm the number of casualties. Both sides claim to have caused significant damage to the other during the conflict, but independent verification is not possible.
The Norwegian Refugee Council, an independent aid group, said its staff saw numerous casualties.
“This morning we visited a hospital treating addicts in Kabul and found hundreds of civilians dead and injured,” the statement said.
Susan Ferguson, UN Women’s special representative for Afghanistan, told a UN briefing in New York via video link from Kabul that she had driven past the site and said it was “devastating”.
“There were a lot of families trying to find their loved ones,” she said.
The EU statement said civilian and medical facilities are protected under international law and described the strike as “another deadly escalation in the conflict that must end as soon as possible.”
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement that dozens of people were killed and injured and called for an immediate de-escalation of tensions.
Witnesses said they heard three bombs detonating just as people at the center were finishing their evening prayers, two of which hit rooms and patient areas.
“The whole place was on fire. It felt like doomsday,” said Ahmad, 50, who gave only his first name and said he was being treated at the facility. “My friends were on fire and I couldn’t save them all.”
Mosharraf Zaidi, the Pakistani prime minister’s spokesman, told X that Afghanistan’s references to drug users being targeted were “lies” and that Pakistan’s “counter-terrorism operations” would continue as long as necessary to eliminate “terrorists and their infrastructure.”
“All military operations will continue until there is a change in behavior and reality in Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan,” Zaidi told Reuters in an interview late on Tuesday.
Zaidi said Pakistan carried out a total of six attacks against Afghanistan on Monday night, including at Camp Phoenix, which was used by the Afghan Taliban for “terrorist training and weapons storage.”
He declined to provide casualty estimates and said Pakistan has no involvement in death toll figures reported by Afghan authorities or aid groups.
China once again appealed for restraint and called for the safety of Chinese personnel and interests in the region.
Pakistan’s arch-rival India, which has recently forged close ties with the Afghan Taliban, condemned the attack.
The conflict had subsided amid mediation efforts by friendly countries, including China, but flared up again just days before the Eid al-Fitr festival, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
