More than 400 people were killed when Pakistan struck a drug rehabilitation hospital in the Afghan capital Kabul, Taliban authorities said on Tuesday, in a sharp escalation of the conflict between the two neighbouring countries.
Pakistan rejected the account as false, saying it had targeted militant infrastructure and pointing to secondary explosions as evidence of ammunition stockpiles at the site.
Afghan interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qanie put the death toll at 408 killed and 265 wounded. Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the strike hit the state-run Omid hospital — a 2,000-bed rehabilitation centre — at around 9 p.m. local time on Monday, just as patients were completing evening prayers. Those killed were mostly civilians and recovering addicts, the Taliban said.
“The whole place caught fire. It was like doomsday,” said Ahmad, 50, who said he was under treatment at the facility. “My friends were burning in the fire, and we could not save them all.”
Reuters could not independently verify the casualty figures.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said his country’s strikes had “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure,” adding that secondary detonations confirmed the presence of large ammunition depots. A spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister dismissed Taliban claims about drug patients being targeted as “constant lies.”
The strike drew swift international condemnation. India said it “unequivocally” condemned the attack, calling it all the more reprehensible for occurring during Ramadan. China, which had earlier urged both sides to avoid widening the conflict, again appealed for calm and said it would continue efforts to mediate.
The conflict, which erupted last month with Pakistani air strikes Islamabad said targeted militant strongholds, is the worst the two neighbours have seen. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harbouring militants behind attacks on Pakistani soil — a charge the Taliban deny.
(Reuters)
