Pakistan denies hospital strike in Afghanistan as death toll hits 400 

Islamabad has denied the accusations of Afghanistan’s Taliban government that Pakistani forces hit a hospital treating drug users in the Afghan capital, Kabul, saying that its strikes in the neighbouring country have avoided civilian sites.

“We strongly refute and reject these allegations,” Pakistani Minister of Information Attaullah Tarar told Al Jazeera Arabic on Tuesday. “Pakistan has only targeted terrorist infrastructure and military locations.”

On Monday, Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban government, said Pakistan’s military struck Kabul’s Omar Addiction Treatment Hospital at about 9pm local time (16:30 GMT).

The hospital is a 2,000-bed facility, and the raid destroyed large sections of the building, he wrote on X.

“Unfortunately, the death toll has so far reached 400, while around 250 others have been reported injured. Rescue teams are currently at the scene, working to control the fire and recover the remaining bodies of the victims,” he added.

In a series of posts on X, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid denounced the assault as a “crime against humanity”.

He accused the Pakistani military of intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure to “perpetrate horrors”, later saying that those killed and injured in the strike were patients receiving treatment at the facility.

The latest wave of violence between the two countries began late last month, with repeated cross-border clashes and Pakistan’s air strikes inside Afghanistan.

Pakistan often accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing safe haven to the Pakistan Taliban, also known as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, as well as to outlawed Baloch separatist groups and other groups who frequently target security forces and civilians across Pakistan. Kabul denies these claims.

A United Nations Security Council resolution, adopted unanimously on Monday, did not name Pakistan, but condemned “in the strongest terms all terrorist activity including terrorist attacks” from within Afghanistan. The resolution also extended the UN political mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, for three months.

On Sunday, the World Food Programme (WFP) said it had begun mobilising to provide “immediate lifesaving food” to more than 20,000 families that have been displaced in Afghanistan due to the conflict.