No fewer than 400 people have reportedly been killed and about 250 others injured in a devastating airstrike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Afghan authorities under the Taliban government accused Pakistan of carrying out the attack in what has been described as a dangerous escalation of hostilities between the two neighbouring countries.
A spokesman for the Taliban administration said the strike targeted a major state-run rehabilitation facility late Monday night, leaving large sections of the complex in ruins and triggering a massive fire that engulfed patients and staff, according to Reuters.
However, the Pakistan government swiftly denied the allegation, dismissing it as âfalse and misleading.â
Officials in Islamabad insisted the operation was a carefully coordinated counter-terrorism mission aimed strictly at militant infrastructure.
Pakistanâs Information Minister, Attaullah Tarar, said in a statement that the strikes hit âmilitary installations and terrorist support infrastructure,â adding that visible secondary explosions at the site indicated the presence of ammunition depots.
The incident has further strained already tense relations between the two countries, whose conflict, now in its most severe phase in recent history, has intensified over the past month along their roughly 2,600-kilometre shared border.
The latest bombardment reportedly occurred just hours after China called for restraint, urging both sides to avoid further escalation and return to dialogue.
Beijing has been among the countries attempting to mediate between the warring neighbours.
Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos and horror at the hospital, where explosions reportedly went off during evening prayers.
âThe whole place caught fire. It was like doomsday,â said Ahmad, a 50-year-old patient who survived the attack, according to Reuters.
âMy friends were burning in the fire, and we could not save them all.â
Another witness, an ambulance driver identified as Haji Fahim, recounted arriving at the scene to find bodies scattered amid flames and debris.
âWhen I arrived, everything was burning, people were burning,â he said.
âThey called me again in the morning because there were still bodies trapped under the rubble.â
Images circulating in local media showed charred buildings, thick plumes of smoke rising into the night sky, and emergency responders evacuating victims from the wreckage.
Parts of the facility were reduced to twisted metal and ash, with personal belongings strewn across the compound.
Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the strike hit the Omid rehabilitation hospital around 9 p.m., describing it as a large government-run centre for treating drug addiction.
âLarge parts of the hospital have been destroyed, and there are fears of heavy casualties,â he said, adding that rescue operations were ongoing.
Independent verification of the casualty figures has not been possible, as access to the site remains restricted and both sides continue to trade accusations.
Pakistanâs Prime Ministerâs office also rejected claims that civilians or patients were deliberately targeted, describing the Talibanâs account as âmisreporting of factsâ aimed at masking alleged support for cross-border militancy.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused Afghan authorities of harbouring armed groups responsible for attacks on Pakistan, a claim the Taliban denies, insisting that security challenges within Pakistan are domestic issues.
The hospital, reportedly established in 2016, has served hundreds of patients battling drug addiction and offered vocational training programmes to aid rehabilitation.
The renewed violence comes amid broader regional instability, with tensions across parts of Asia and the Middle-East contributing to fears of a wider conflict.
Meanwhile, Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, expressed concern over the reports, calling for restraint.
âI am dismayed by reports of civilian casualties,â he said, urging all parties to respect international law and ensure the protection of civilians and critical infrastructure, including hospitals.
As rescue efforts continue in Kabul, fears remain that the death toll could rise further, deepening the humanitarian crisis and raising fresh concerns over the trajectory of the conflict between the two nations.
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