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KABUL, Afghanistan – A devastating airstrike in the Afghan capital late Monday has ignited a furious exchange of accusations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Kabul alleging a hospital for drug users was targeted, resulting in a staggering 400 fatalities. This marks a dramatic and tragic escalation in a conflict that has seen repeated cross-border clashes and airstrikes since late last month, with international calls for a ceasefire going unheeded.
Afghanistan’s deputy government spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, stated via social media that the airstrike struck the hospital around 9 p.m. local time, leaving significant portions of the 2,000-bed facility in ruins. He reported that the death toll had “so far” climbed to 400, with approximately 250 individuals reported injured.
Footage shared on social media depicted security forces using flashlights to move casualties, while firefighters battled blazes amidst the wreckage. Fitrat indicated that rescue teams were actively working to control the fires and recover bodies.
Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid vehemently condemned the strike on social media, accusing Pakistan of “targeting hospitals and civilian sites to perpetrate horrors.” Prior to the rising death toll, he asserted that the deceased and injured were patients at the facility. “We strongly condemn this crime and consider such an act to be against all accepted principles and a crime against humanity,” he posted.
The strike occurred just hours after Afghan officials reported an exchange of fire along the shared border, which claimed four lives in Afghanistan, pushing the deadliest fighting between the two nations in years into its third week.
Pakistan Dismisses Allegations
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesman, Mosharraf Zaidi, swiftly dismissed the accusations as baseless, firmly stating that no hospital in Kabul was targeted.
In a social media post made before Afghan officials released the death toll, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information asserted that its 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. The ministry claimed these facilities were being utilized to launch attacks against Pakistani civilians. It emphasized that Pakistan’s targeting was “precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted,” branding Mujahid’s claims as “false and misleading” and intended to incite sentiment and mask what it described as “illegitimate support for cross-border terrorism.”
U.N. Urges Afghanistan to Combat Militants
This latest strike followed a call from the U.N. Security Council for Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to immediately intensify their efforts to combat terrorism. Pakistan has consistently accused Kabul of harboring militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, which it claims orchestrate attacks within Pakistan.
The Security Council resolution, adopted unanimously, condemned “in the strongest terms all terrorist activity including terrorist attacks,” though it did not explicitly name Pakistan. The resolution also extended the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, for an additional three months.
Pakistan’s government maintains that Afghanistan provides safe haven to the Pakistani Taliban (designated a terrorist organization by the United States), as well as outlawed Baloch separatist groups and other militants who frequently target Pakistani security forces and civilians. Kabul has consistently denied these charges.
The Latest Conflict
The current hostilities, considered the most severe between the two neighbors, erupted in late February. This followed cross-border attacks launched by Afghanistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan, which Kabul claimed killed civilians. These clashes shattered a ceasefire brokered by Qatar in October, which had followed earlier fighting that resulted in dozens of casualties among soldiers, civilians, and suspected militants.
Pakistan has declared itself in “open war” with Afghanistan, a pronouncement that has deeply concerned the international community, particularly given the region’s known presence of other militant organizations, including al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, which continue to seek a resurgence.
On Sunday, Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar claimed the military had killed 684 Afghan Taliban forces, a claim rejected by Afghanistan, which maintains casualties are significantly lower. Conversely, Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry and other officials have stated that Afghanistan has killed over 100 Pakistani soldiers.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari asserted that Afghanistan’s Taliban administration crossed a “red line” by deploying drones that injured several civilians in Pakistan last week. In response to those attacks, Pakistan’s air force over the weekend struck equipment storage sites and “technical support infrastructure” in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar Province, claiming these were being used for attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul reported that Pakistan hit two locations, including an empty security site and a drug rehabilitation center that sustained minor damage.
In Kabul, Afghanistan’s administrative Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi underscored that defending sovereignty is the duty of all citizens. Speaking at a meeting with political analysts and media figures, Hanafi expressed regret over civilian casualties in recent Pakistani attacks, emphasizing that the war was imposed upon Afghanistan.