Afghanistan says 400 people killed in Pakistan strike on Kabul hospital : NPR

Residents and Taliban police collect the remains of a projectile at the site of a strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 13.

Barackatullah Popal/AP

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Barackatullah Popal/AP

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan accused Pakistan of targeting a drug hospital in the Afghan capital late Monday, saying the airstrike killed at least 400 people. It is a dramatic escalation of a conflict that began late last month and has seen repeated cross-border clashes as well as airstrikes inside Afghanistan. International calls for a ceasefire have gone unheeded.

Pakistan has rejected the accusation that it hit a hospital, saying its strikes, also carried out in eastern Afghanistan, did not hit any civilian sites.

Deputy Afghan government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said in an article on X that the airstrike hit the hospital around 9 p.m. local time, destroying large parts of the 2,000-bed facility. He said the death toll “so far” stood at 400 people, while around 250 people were reported injured.

Local television channels released footage on X showing security forces using flashlights as they carried out rescue operations while firefighters struggled to douse flames among the ruins of a building. Fitrat said rescue teams were working to control the fire and recover the bodies.

The strike came hours after Afghan officials said the two sides exchanged fire along their shared border, killing four people in Afghanistan, as the deadliest fighting between the neighbors in years entered its third week.

Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the strike on X, accusing Pakistan of “targeting hospitals and civilian sites to carry out horrors.” In a message released before the death toll rose into the hundreds, he said those killed and injured were hospital patients.

“We strongly condemn this crime and consider that such an act is contrary to all recognized principles and constitutes a crime against humanity,” he said.

Pakistan rejects allegations

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesman Mosharraf Zaidi dismissed the allegations as baseless, saying no hospitals had been targeted in Kabul.

In an article on

He said the targeting of Pakistan was “precise and carefully undertaken to ensure that no collateral damage was inflicted”. The ministry said Mujahid’s claims were “false and misleading” and aimed to stir up sentiments and cover up what it described as “illegitimate support for cross-border terrorism”.

UN calls on Afghanistan to fight militants

The strike came hours after the UN Security Council called on Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders to immediately step up efforts to fight terrorism. Pakistan accuses Kabul of harboring militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban, which it says carry out attacks inside Pakistan.

The Security Council resolution, adopted unanimously, does not name Pakistan but condemns “in the strongest terms all terrorist activities, including terrorist attacks.” The resolution also extends the United Nations political mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, by three months.

The Pakistani government accuses Afghanistan of providing sanctuary to the Pakistani Taliban, designated a terrorist organization by the United States, as well as outlawing Baloch separatist groups and other militants who frequently target Pakistani security forces and civilians across the country. Kabul denies this accusation.

The last conflict

The fighting – the heaviest between the two neighbors – began in late February after Afghanistan launched cross-border attacks in response to Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan that Kabul says killed civilians. The clashes disrupted a Qatar-brokered ceasefire in October after earlier fighting killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants.

Pakistan has declared itself in “open war” with Afghanistan. The conflict has alarmed the international community, especially since the region is an area where other militant organizations, including Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, are still present and trying to resurface.

On Sunday, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the army had killed 684 members of the Afghan Taliban, a claim rejected by Afghanistan, which says the losses are much lower. The Afghan Defense Ministry and other officials have said Afghanistan has killed more than 100 Pakistani troops.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said the Afghan Taliban administration crossed a “red line” by deploying drones that injured several civilians in Pakistan last week.

In response to the attacks, the Pakistan Air Force over the weekend struck equipment storage sites and “technical support infrastructure” in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, saying they were being used for attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul said Pakistan struck two sites, including an empty security site and a drug rehabilitation center that suffered minor damage.

In Kabul, Afghan Deputy Administrative Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi said defending sovereignty was the duty of all citizens. Speaking at a meeting with political analysts and media figures, Hanafi expressed regret over civilian casualties in recent Pakistani attacks, saying the war was being imposed on Afghanistan.