Pakistan Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons
At least 400 people died and more than 200 were injured in an attack, attributed to Pakistan, against a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul, sources in the de facto Taliban government told EFE.
The Afghan government this Monday accused Pakistan of death of “many civilians” in an attack on Kabul that hit “a drug treatment center”.
The two countries have been in conflict for months. Pakistan alleges that its neighbor hosts fighters from the Pakistani Taliban Movement (TTP), which has claimed responsibility for deadly attacks on its territory. Afghan authorities deny this accusation.
Second Sharafat Zaman Amarspokesperson for the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, more than 400 patients who were undergoing treatment in one of the pavilions at Omid Hospital died after the bombing of the medical rehabilitation unit, with capacity for around 2,000 patients.
According to the AFP agency, strong explosions were heard around 9pm local time in the center of the Afghan capital, shortly after military planes passed by. Columns of smoke could be seen across the city.
“The Pakistani regime once again violated Afghan airspace, attacking a drug treatment center in Kabul, killing and injuring many civilians, most of them patients,” a government spokesperson published oninhumane act that violates all principles“.
In a first assessment, a spokesperson for the Afghan Ministry of Public Health had indicated that more than 200 patients had died in the bombing. An Afghan Government source also confirmed to EFE a provisional toll of up to 400 injured, adding that medical facilities “were completely destroyed by bombing”.
The official added that around 200 injured were transferred to other hospitals and warned that the number of victims could increase. Government sources further indicated that many people remain buried in the rubble and that medical facilities were completely destroyed.
Witnesses reported strong explosions and the presence of combat aircraft.
O Pakistan government denied having attacked the civilian medical facility, stating that its operations were “highly precise and targeted” against material warehouses of the insurgent group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
In a statement, the Pakistani Ministry of Information considered that the version presented by the Taliban authorities It is a “distortion of facts” intended to cover up alleged support for cross-border terrorism, adding that the secondary explosions recorded after the attack would indicate the presence of heavy weapons at the site.
Omid Hospital was one of the largest drug rehabilitation units in Afghanistan, receivingo patients from the 34 provinces of the country.
After an escalation in October that left dozens dead, fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan had eased but resumed on February 26 following a wave of Pakistani attacks.
on February 27 and attacked Kabul on the same day.
