More Than 400 Reportedly Killed In Airstrike On Kabul Hospital

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Rescuers pulled more bodies from the rubble of a building drug rehab He was hospitalized in Kabul on Tuesday after authorities said more than 400 people were killed in a dramatic increase in overnight airstrikes. Conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan It is currently in its third week.

Pakistan rejected Afghanistan’s accusation that it targeted the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital and insisted Monday’s attacks in eastern Afghanistan were against military facilities. He also dismissed Afghan claims that hundreds of people were killed as propaganda.

While the injured were taken to multiple hospitals in the area, crowds gathered to search for their loved ones among the wounded and dead. It was not possible to independently verify the reported death toll.

Conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan seen repeatedly Despite international calls for a ceasefire, cross-border conflicts and air strikes continue in Afghanistan.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of providing a safe haven to militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan, particularly against Pakistan. Pakistani Taliban. The group is separate but closely allied with the Afghan Taliban, which seized Afghanistan in 2021 following a chaotic withdrawal of US-led troops. Cain denies the accusation.

Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesperson of the Afghan government, stated in his post on the X channel that the air strike hit the Omid hospital, a 2,000-bed facility in Kabul, at around 21:00 in the evening local time, and a large part of the facility was destroyed.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said 408 people were killed and 265 were injured.

Footage broadcast on local television on Tuesday showed security forces using flashlights to remove the injured from the area while firefighters tried to extinguish the flames.

Omid hospital was renamed Ibn Sina Drug Addiction Treatment Hospital and expanded in size about a year ago as part of government plans. to stamp Drug addiction in Afghanistan

Located near Kabul’s international airport, the facility is adjacent to Camp Phoenix, a former NATO military base where US forces train the armed forces. Afghan National Army. The base was taken over by Afghanistan’s new authorities after the Taliban seized power. It was not immediately clear what was currently housed in the area.

An Associated Press reporter who was in an area close to the field during the attack said that a military jet flew overhead and then heard a very loud explosion.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said in an However, it was stated that the hospital was “a few kilometers” away from the old camp, and Afghan officials were accused of lying. Google Maps shows another location east of Kabul city, also labeled Phoenix Camp.

“Another important question remains as to why an alleged drug rehabilitation facility was located in the same location as a deadly ammunition storage area in a military camp? This also remains unanswered,” the Ministry of Information wrote.

Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, in his speech at the meeting with foreign ambassadors in Kabul, emphasized that his country wants stability.

“The whole nation is not in favor of war,” he said in a statement released by the ministry. However, if war is imposed on him, he will prove his right to self-defense with great courage and defend his lands and beliefs.”

Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid He condemned the attack and accused Pakistan of “targeting hospitals and civilian areas to create terror”. He said those killed were “innocent civilians and addicts.”

Rescue team worker Allah Muhammad Farooq said hundreds of people were killed.

“When we got here, everyone was under rubble,” he said. “We then used a crane to get them out. Most of the people were dead and many were still trapped under the rubble.”

A man sitting outside the building broke down in tears as he described hearing about the bombing. Haji Najibullah said that his son and other relatives were patients at the facility.

“We have no information about who is alive and who is under the rubble,” he said. “Only God knows who may survive and who may be injured.”

To reassure throngs of desperate relatives searching for their loved ones at local hospitals, Afghan authorities released a list of 500 people they said were in treatment centers and safe.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan called for an immediate ceasefire.

The statement expressed its “deepest condolences to the families of those killed” as “an airstrike carried out by Pakistani military forces affected the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital, a healthcare facility for the treatment of drug-addicted individuals, with dozens reportedly killed and injured.”

Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called for an investigation into the attack and said those responsible should be “held accountable in line with international standards.”

Speaking in Geneva, Al-Kheetan said 289 Afghan civilians, including 104 children, have been killed or injured and tens of thousands of people have been displaced since Afghanistan and Pakistan began fighting in late February.

In Islamabad, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar dismissed Afghan accusations that Pakistan targeted a hospital as “completely baseless”.

Tarar said Pakistan “targeted facilities used directly or indirectly to plan, facilitate, host, train or encourage terrorist attacks within Pakistan.” Strikes in Kabul and in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar were “precise, deliberate and professional,” he said, adding: “No hospital, no drug rehabilitation center, and no civilian facility was targeted.”

The fiercest conflict between the two neighbors began in late February after Afghanistan launched cross-border attacks in response to Pakistani airstrikes. conflicts He broke the ceasefire brokered by Qatar In October, after dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants were killed in earlier clashes.

Pakistan declared its existence “open war” with Afghanistan. The conflict alarmed the international community, especially since the region is home to Al Qaeda and other militant organizations. Islamic State groupit still exists and is trying to resurface.

Ahmed reported from Islamabad and Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Habib Rahmani from Kabul, Patrick Quinn from Bangkok and Jamey Keaten from Geneva contributed.