The Taliban government has claimed that nearly 400 people have been killed and approximately 250 injured in a Pakistani airstrike on a hospital in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.
Deputy spokesperson for the Taliban government, Hamdullah Fitrat, stated on Tuesday (March 17) morning that the airstrike targeted a drug treatment center or rehabilitation hospital in Kabul around 9 PM on Monday night. Many patients undergoing treatment at the hospital were reportedly killed and injured.
He added that a large section of the approximately two-thousand-bed hospital has been destroyed. It is feared that more people might be trapped under the rubble, and consequently, the death toll could rise further.
However, Pakistan has denied this accusation from the Afghan government. Islamabad claims that no hospital in Kabul was targeted, and the allegation is completely baseless.
Meanwhile, Taliban government spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid strongly condemned the attack. In a post on the social media platform ‘X’, he stated that the Pakistani military has once again violated Afghanistan’s airspace and attacked a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul.
He further added that such attacks are contrary to internationally recognized principles and should be considered a crime against humanity.
Afghan local media outlet Tolo News reported that the airstrike targeted a drug treatment center located in Kabul’s 9th police district, resulting in extensive casualties.
This incident occurs amidst reports of several rounds of gunfire between Afghan and Pakistani forces along their shared border. This is considered one of the most intense periods of tension between the two countries in recent years.
On the other hand, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting stated that no hospital in Kabul was targeted. The country’s Information Minister, Ataullah Tarar, said that Pakistani forces conducted “precision airstrikes” targeting military installations in Kabul and the eastern Nangarhar province.
Sources: NDTV, Tolo News.