At least 400 killed in Pakistani airstrike on drug addiction treatment center in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabula representative of the Afghan government movement, the Taliban, reported on Tuesday. Pakistan has denied the accusation that it attacked the facility and declared that its strikes did not hit any civilian objects. The AP agency drew attention to it, writes TASR.
- Four hundred people are said to have died in the Pakistani attack on a Kabul rehab center.
- The Taliban say the bombing destroyed large parts of the 2,000-bed hospital.
- At least two hundred and fifty people were injured in the attack, according to the Taliban movement.
- Pakistan denies the attack on the hospital and says it was a military target.
- Military tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been escalating since last October.
In a post on Platform X, Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the attack hit the center around 9 p.m. local time on Monday, destroying large parts of the 2,000-bed hospital. Fitrat added that the death toll has so far climbed to 400, with at least 250 more injured.
Local television footage showed firefighters working to put out the fire that broke out in the center during the attack, while security forces carried out the injured and victims. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also condemned the incident earlier and accused Islamabad of targeting “hospitals and civilian objects” on Platform X.
A spokesman for Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif called the allegations baseless and said no hospital had been attacked in Kabul. Even before the Taliban confirmed the number of victims, the Pakistani Ministry of Information announced that the attacks “they precisely hit military installations and terrorist support infrastructure, including technical equipment and ammunition depots of the Afghan Taliban” and Pakistani militants operating in Afghanistan. According to Islamabad, these devices were used against innocent Pakistani civilians.
At the same time, Pakistan’s Department of Information called Mujahid’s claims “false and misleading.” According to the ministry, their goal was to cover up “illegitimate support for cross-border terrorism.” Armed clashes between the two countries escalated in October last year and led to the almost complete closure of the borders. Pakistan subsequently declared “open war” against the Taliban and bombed the Afghan capital, Kabul, on February 27. Since then, armed skirmishes in the border areas have intensified.
