Families gathered outside the Omar Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul searching for relatives after the facility was struck in what Afghan authorities say was a Pakistani air attack that killed 408 people. Taliban officials reported the strike occurred at about 9pm local time (16:30 GMT) on Monday.
Among those seeking answers was 38-year-old mechanic Baryalai Amiri, who came to the 2,000-bed clinic looking for a brother admitted around 25 days earlier. “We are not given the proper information,” Amiri told AFP as rescuers sifted through rubble. “So far, we don’t know where he is.”
Afghanistan and Pakistan have been locked in a months-long confrontation, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of sheltering armed groups responsible for deadly cross-border attacks. The recent escalation, which began last month, has been described as the worst between the neighbours and has continued despite mediation efforts by countries including China.
Pakistan rejected Afghanistan’s allegation that the strike hit civilians, saying its forces targeted “military installations and terrorist support infrastructure” and that operations are “precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted.” Islamabad dismissed the Afghan claims as “false and aimed at misleading public opinion.”
Health officials said about 3,000 patients from across Afghanistan were at the clinic when the attack occurred, triggering panic in Kabul shortly after people had broken their daily Ramadan fast. The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, said he was “dismayed” by reports of air raids and civilian casualties and urged parties to de-escalate, exercise restraint and respect international law, including protection for hospitals and civilians.
A spokesman for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior Affairs gave the casualty figures of 408 dead and 265 injured on Tuesday. Witnesses reported hearing three explosions as people finished evening prayers; two of the blasts struck rooms and patient areas. “The whole place caught fire. It was like doomsday,” said 50-year-old Ahmad, who was being treated at the facility and said friends burned in the blaze. Ambulance driver Haji Fahim, who arrived shortly after the raids, said he saw people and buildings ablaze and was later called back because bodies remained under the rubble.
The clinic, opened in 2016, had treated hundreds of patients and also offered vocational training such as tailoring and carpentry to help rehabilitated people find work.
