Hundreds killed in Pakistani strike on rehab hospital in Afghanistan, Taliban says

The attack occurred around 9 p.m. on Monday at a facility located in Kabul’s Police District 9, according to Taliban officials.

“The Pakistani military regime bombed a 2,000-bed drug rehabilitation hospital called ‘Omid.’ Large parts of the hospital have been destroyed,” said Hamdullah Firtat, a Taliban spokesman, on X.

“Unfortunately, the number of martyrs (dead) has so far reached 400 people, and up to 250 others have been injured.”

Sharafat Zaman, a spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry of Public Health, told CBS News that the death toll might increase as rescuers are still pulling dead bodies from the rubble.

Videos shared with CBS News by the Taliban show the hospital in flames as firefighters and rescue teams try to extinguish the blazes and carry the dead and injured in stretchers.

Muhammad Ashraf, who was working in a nearby hospital, told CBS News that he heard several gunshots followed by two loud explosions.

Pakistan denied the Taliban’s accusation that it hit a medical facility as “false claims,” saying, “visible secondary detonations after the strikes clearly indicate the presence of large ammunition depots,” and that it was carrying out “precision airstrikes” targeting the Afghan Taliban’s military installations in Kabul and Nangarhar provinces.

“Pakistan’s Armed Forces successfully carried out precision airstrikes on the night of 16 March…targeting Afghan Taliban regime terrorism sponsoring military installations in Kabul and Nangarhar.” Attaullah Tarar, Pakistan’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting, said in a post on social media.

“Technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage facilities at two locations in Kabul were effectively destroyed,” he said.  

The videos shared with CBS News did not appear to show secondary explosions or gunfire following the initial blast.

The Omid hospital, which translates to “Hope,” is a vast rehabilitation center for addicts located in a former NATO camp. Thousands of mostly young Afghans battling addiction, which is one of the country’s worst social crises, are brought to the center for treatment.

The attacks come after weeks of intense cross-border attacks between Afghanistan and Pakistan that started in late February. Pakistan has said it is in an “open war” with Afghanistan and targeting terror groups.

The tensions escalated to the point that Pakistani jets have carried out strikes in Kabul and other parts of the country. Afghanistan said that Islamabad was violating its sovereignty, and in response, the Taliban struck Pakistani cities with drones.

Last week, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said at least four civilians were killed, and 14 were injured following an airstrike in Kabul.

An earlier ceasefire brokered by Qatar broke down in February. On Monday, China said its special envoy has been shuttling between Kabul and Islamabad to mediate between the two sides and urged an immediate ceasefire.

“China hopes Afghanistan and Pakistan will remain calm and exercise restraint, engage face to face ASAP, achieve a ceasefire at the earliest opportunity, and resolve differences and disputes through dialogue. China will continue to facilitate reconciliation and ease tensions.” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a tweet.

Pakistan claimed that armed groups, such as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, are attacking Pakistan’s territory from Afghanistan, where they have been given safe haven. Afghanistan denies the Pakistani accusation and says TTP is an internal issue of Pakistan that is not relevant to the Taliban.