Afghanistan says 400 killed in Pakistan strike on Kabul clinic

Afghan officials report around 400 dead in a Pakistani air strike on a Kabul drug rehab centre, marking a deadly escalation in cross-border tensions

KABUL: The Afghan government said on Tuesday that about 400 people were killed in a Pakistani air strike on a drug rehabilitation centre in the capital.

Hundreds more were wounded at the facility, which was flattened on Monday night. Health ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said the toll was not final as rescue operations continued, but they had “around 400 martyrs and more than 200 wounded”.

Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani later gave a precise toll of 408 killed and 265 wounded. Afghan authorities have asked families to accept mass burials for the victims.

AFP reporters saw at least 30 bodies removed from the site on Monday night. They then saw more than 65 removed on Tuesday as rescuers searched the rubble for survivors.

The centre treated people from across the country for addictions to marijuana, amphetamines and other narcotics. Chairs, blankets, pieces of hospital beds and human remains were visible in the blackened ruins on Tuesday.

Habibullah Kabulbai, 55, was searching for his brother Nawroz, who was admitted five days ago. “I can’t find him,” he said, weeping. “What should we do? I have no words… We are helpless.”

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar rejected the Taliban government’s claims. “No hospital, no drug rehabilitation centre, and no civilian facility was targeted,” he wrote on X.

He stated the targets were “military and terrorist infrastructure” and called the strikes “precise, deliberate, and professional”. The six strikes also hit the eastern border province of Nangarhar.

Late Tuesday, Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said Afghanistan does not want war but would continue “proportionate and legitimate defensive measures”. The two sides have been in conflict for months, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of harbouring Islamist extremists.

The UN rights office called for a swift, independent investigation. “Civilians and civilian infrastructure must never be targeted,” said Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council, which saw the impact firsthand.

The International Committee of the Red Cross delivered emergency medical supplies after “hundreds were left wounded”. The UN mission in Afghanistan called for “an immediate ceasefire”.

Beijing pledged to “play a constructive role in de-escalating tensions”. India called the attack “a cowardly and unconscionable act of violence”, while the EU urged “maximum restraint”.

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