Afghanistan Accuses Pakistan of Attacking Hospital, 400 Dead

The government of Afghanistan has accused Pakistan’s military of launching an airstrike against a hospital treating drug users in the Afghan capital, Kabul. The attack killed at least 400 people.

Pakistan rejected the claim as “false and designed to mislead public opinion”. Pakistan affirmed that they only targeted military installations in Kabul and Nangarhar Province on Monday (16 March).

The attack on the Omar Addiction Care Hospital in Kabul occurred on Monday at approximately 21:00 local time (16:30 GMT), according to Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Taliban government of Afghanistan, citing the AFP news agency on Tuesday (17 March 2026).

The hospital had 2,000 beds, and the strike destroyed much of the building, he wrote on social media platform X.

“Unfortunately, the death toll thus far has reached 400 people, whilst approximately 250 others are reported injured. Rescue teams are currently at the scene, attempting to control the fire and locate the remaining victims’ bodies,” he added.

Local television stations broadcast footage showing firefighters struggling to extinguish fires amongst the building rubble.

Omid Stanikzai, 31, a security officer at the hospital, told the AFP news agency that he heard jets patrolling in the sky before the strike occurred.

“There were military units around us. When these military units fired at the jets, the jets dropped bombs and a fire broke out,” he said.

All casualties and injured were civilians, he added.

The attack occurred several hours after Afghan officials stated that both sides had exchanged fire along their shared border, with four people killed in Afghanistan. This comes as the deadliest clashes between the two neighbouring countries in recent years have now entered their third week.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Afghan government, condemned the attack on the hospital. He stated that Pakistan had again “violated Afghan airspace and targeted a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul”.

He said the Afghan government considers “such actions contrary to all accepted principles, and constitute crimes against humanity”.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesman, Mosharraf Zaidi, rejected the allegations as baseless, stating that no hospital was targeted in Kabul.