Afghanistan says Pakistan hit Kabul rehab center killing 408, Islamabad rejects claim
Afghanistan says Pakistan hit Kabul rehab center killing 408, Islamabad rejects claim
According to a spokesperson for the Afghan Taliban, over 400 individuals were killed and 265 injured when Pakistan launched an airstrike on a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul. This incident marks the deadliest attack since hostilities between the two nations began in October 2025. The Taliban accused Pakistan of targeting civilians, while Islamabad insisted its strikes were precise and aimed at military and militant facilities.
Conflicting Accounts and Mediation
Following the strike, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar dismissed the Taliban’s claim as misleading, stating that the attack targeted a state-run “military terrorist ammunition and equipment storage site” called Camp Phoenix. The incident occurred just hours after China expressed readiness to mediate further to ease tensions between the neighbors. Earlier attempts by Qatar, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia had failed to bring the parties together.
Afghanistan’s Interior ministry spokesman, Abdul Mateen Qanie, confirmed the death toll as 408, with 265 wounded. He noted that the victims were transported to nearby hospitals, though specifics on casualty counting were not disclosed. Another Taliban official, Hafizullah Maroof, added that at least 102 bodies were delivered to the Kabul Forensic Medical Department.
“The visible secondary detonations after the strikes clearly indicate the presence of large ammunition depots,” said Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar in a post on X.
Locals in Kabul described Camp Phoenix, a former NATO base, as having been repurposed into a drug treatment center a decade ago. It was known as Omid Camp or “camp of hope,” though its official designation was the Ibn Sina Drug Addiction Treatment Hospital. Witnesses claimed the strike hit the facility, which was not connected to Omid Hospital, emphasizing that the two were distinct.
International Reactions and Eyewitness Accounts
Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s foreign minister, stated that Afghanistan had lost confidence in Pakistan’s commitment to resolving the conflict diplomatically. The ongoing dispute has escalated into the most severe clash between the two South Asian nations since their alliance began to fray. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported dozens of casualties and called for immediate de-escalation.
“We visited the hospital treating addicts in Kabul this morning and found hundreds of civilians dead and injured,” said the Norwegian Refugee Council in a statement.
Amid the chaos, Susan Ferguson, the UN Women Special Representative, described the scene as “devastating” during a virtual briefing in New York. She observed families struggling to locate their loved ones at the site. Meanwhile, an Afghan resident named Ahmad recounted the destruction: “The whole place caught fire. It was like doomsday.”
The UN reiterated that civilian and medical infrastructure should be protected under international law, labeling the strike as “another deadly escalation in a conflict that needs to end as soon as possible.” Despite both sides asserting heavy damage, independent verification remains challenging due to the lack of transparency in casualty reporting.
