Afghanistan’s deputy government spokesman said early Tuesday the death toll from an airstrike by Pakistan that hit a hospital treating drug users in the Afghan capital Kabul has increased to 400.
In a post on X, Hamdullah Fitrat said the strike on Monday night had destroyed large sections of the hospital. He said the death toll so far stood at 400, while a further 250 people had been reported injured. Fitrat said rescue teams were trying to control the fire at the building and recover the bodies of the victims.
Pakistan had earlier denied that it had hit a hospital, saying its strike in Kabul and other strikes in eastern Afghanistan Monday had not hit any civilian sites. Afghanistan on Monday accused Pakistan’s military of targeting a Kabul hospital that treats drug users in airstrikes, with the country’s Health Ministry spokesman saying more than 200 people had been killed. Pakistan dismissed the accusation, saying the strikes — which were also conducted in eastern Afghanistan — did not hit any civilian sites.
Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman gave the death toll during a television interview with local media that was posted on X. He said all parts of the drug treatment hospital had been destroyed.Afghanistan’s government spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, also posted the video interview. Local television stations posted footage showing firefighters struggling to extinguish flames among the ruins of a building.
The alleged attack came hours after Afghan officials said the two sides exchanged fire along their common border, killing four people in Afghanistan, as the deadliest fighting between the neighbors in years entered a third week.
Mujahid had earlier condemned the strike on X, before the death toll had become apparent, saying it violated Afghanistan’s territory. He said most of those killed and wounded were patients undergoing treatment at the facility.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesman, Mosharraf Zaidi, dismissed the allegations as baseless, saying no hospital was targeted in Kabul.
In a post on X, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said the strikes “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure including technical equipment storage and ammunition storage of Afghan Taliban” and Afghanistan-based Pakistani militants in Kabul and Nangarhar, saying the facilities were being used against innocent Pakistani civilians.
It said Pakistan’s targeting was “precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted.” The ministry said Mujahid’s claim was “false and misleading” and aimed at stirring sentiment and cover what it described as ”illegitimate support for cross-border terrorism.”
It came hours after the U.N. Security Council called on Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to immediately step up efforts to combat terrorism. Pakistan accuses Kabul of harboring militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, which it says carry out attacks inside Pakistan.
The Security Council resolution, adopted unanimously, didn’t name Pakistan but condemns “in the strongest terms all terrorist activity including terrorist attacks.” The resolution also extends the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, for three months.
Pakistan’s government often accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing safe haven to the Pakistani Taliban, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States.
Afghanistan warns of ‘teeth-breaking response’ to Pakistan
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior spokesperson Abdul Matin Qane on Tuesday warned that the country will give a ‘teeth-breaking response’ to the airstrikes carried out by Pakistan in Kabul, local media reported.
Afghan officials said that the strike targeted the 2,000-bed Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul’s Pul-e-Charkhi area. Qane said recovery efforts were being made on Tuesday as emergency teams were searching for bodies under the rubble, Afghanistan-based Ariana News reported.
Qane said Afghanistan considers Pakistan’s latest strike as major escalation and warned of a response. He said, “Such attacks cannot go unanswered,” reiterating that Afghan authorities consider the incident a violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty, Ariana News reported. The incident marks a sharp escalation in tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent weeks due to airstrikes, artillery fire, and accusations from both sides.
Afghan authorities have condemned what they term Pakistan’s military operations in Afghanistan, especially in eastern and southeastern provinces.
In recent weeks, Afghan officials have said that strikes and shelling incidents have caused casualties and damage to infrastructure. Meanwhile, Islamabad has claimed it is targeting militant groups that are using Afghan soil for launching attacks in Pakistan.
Earlier on March 14, deputy spokesman of the Afghan government Hamdullah Fitrat said that Pakistani airstrikes claimed four lives and injured 25 others in the Afghan capital Kabul early Friday.
The official said Pakistan, apart from Kabul, also conducted air raids on Kandahar, Paktika, Khost and Nangarhar provinces on Thursday night and Friday. An oil depot was targeted in Kandahar, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The current round of hostilities began when Taliban-led Afghan forces launched retaliatory operations against Pakistani military installations on February 27, following Pakistan’s actions targeting militants inside Afghan territory on February 21.
Following Afghanistan’s attacks, Pakistan launched ‘Operation Ghazab lil-Haq’ (Righteous Fury) in response to what it described as “unprovoked firing” by the Afghan forces across multiple border sectors.