Taliban claims 400 killed, 250 injured in Pakistani airstrike on Kabul hospital

Smoke rises after an explosion in what the Taliban said was a Pakistani air strike in Kabul. (Courtesy: Reuters photo)

At least 400 people have been killed and around 250 injured in a Pakistani airstrike at a hospital in Kabul, Taliban spokesperson said.

The strike, reported to have hit an addiction treatment centre in Kabul’s 9th police district, came as fighting between the neighbouring countries intensified, marking one of the deadliest incidents in weeks of escalating tensions.

Afghanistan’s Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said the attack destroyed the facility and caused heavy casualties. Loud explosions were reported around 9:00 p.m. local time in the Afghan capital, with smoke seen rising from areas including Shahr-e-Naw and Wazir Akbar Khan, while television footage showed firefighters battling flames at the damaged building.

Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid accused Pakistan of targeting civilians receiving treatment at the facility. “The Pakistani military regime has once again violated Afghanistan's airspace and targeted a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, resulting in the death and injury of addicts who were undergoing treatment,” Mujahid said.

“We strongly condemn this crime and consider such an act to be against all accepted principles and a crime against humanity,” he added.

Pakistan rejected the allegations, saying its military operation targeted only militant infrastructure. The country’s Ministry of Information said the strikes “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure including technical equipment storage and ammunition storage of Afghan Taliban” and militants operating from Afghanistan.

Officials in Islamabad said the sites were being used against Pakistani civilians and insisted the operation was carried out carefully to avoid civilian casualties, calling Mujahid’s accusations “false and misleading.”

The incident comes amid rising hostilities between the two countries. Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of sheltering militants responsible for attacks inside Pakistan, while Kabul denies the claims and says the strikes violate its sovereignty.

Cross-border clashes have intensified in recent weeks, with both sides exchanging fire along the frontier. Pakistani officials have described the situation as an “open war,” following airstrikes launched after drones allegedly deployed from Afghanistan injured civilians in Pakistan.

Afghan leaders have condemned the attacks, with administrative deputy prime minister Abdul Salam Hanafi stating that defending the country’s sovereignty is the duty of all citizens and describing the conflict as a war imposed on Afghanistan.