Not Iran-Lebanon! Missile Strikes Hospital in Asian Muslim Country, 400 Dead
An intense airstrike targeted a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday (17/03/2026) night local time. This deadly incident reportedly claimed at least 400 lives and injured hundreds of others in an instant.
The Afghan government stated that the attack occurred around 21:00 local time and struck the facility with a capacity of 2,000 beds. The massive explosion caused extensive damage to the hospital building and sparked a fierce fire at the scene, marking a significant escalation in the cross-border fighting that has been ongoing for weeks between the two neighbouring countries.
The Taliban’s Deputy Government Spokesperson, Hamdullah Fitrat, provided an official statement on the high casualty figures via his X social media account. Fitrat emphasised that the scale of destruction from the airstrike was massive and claimed civilian lives among those undergoing treatment.
“The airstrike on the hospital killed at least 400 people, with hundreds more injured,” Fitrat said in his statement.
Currently, local authorities are still attempting evacuations amid the rubble of the destroyed building. Fitrat explained that the primary focus of personnel on the ground is to extinguish the remaining fires and evacuate victims still buried under the medical facility’s debris.
“Rescue teams are currently at the scene working to control the fire and evacuate the remaining bodies of the victims,” Fitrat added.
Reports from the field gathered by AFP news agency confirmed the tragic situation, where journalists observed at least 30 bodies had been evacuated while hundreds of injured victims were rushed to nearby hospitals. The attack occurred amid the “open war” declared by Pakistan since 27 February due to peaking tensions.
Prior to this bloody incident, the UN Security Council on Monday had urged Taliban authorities in Afghanistan to intensify efforts in combating terrorism. Relations between the two countries deteriorated after Pakistan accused the Taliban of harbouring militant groups planning attacks within Pakistani territory, a claim consistently denied by the Taliban.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, had previously issued a stern warning regarding the escalation of this conflict at the end of February. Asif asserted that Pakistan would not remain passive against militant activities deemed a threat to their national security from Afghan territory.
“Our patience has run out,” Asif stated firmly at the time.
Pakistan’s Strong Denial
Islamabad itself has also affirmed that its military would not target civilian infrastructure or hospitals in its air operations. Pakistan’s Information Minister, Attaullah Tarar, stated that the country’s armed forces conducted precision airstrikes aimed at military installations and terrorist support infrastructure in Kabul and eastern Nangarhar province.
In line with this, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesperson, Mosharraf Zaidi, outright rejected the accusations levelled by the Afghan side. Zaidi stressed that the targets of Pakistan’s military operations were not medical facilities as alleged by the Taliban government.
“No hospital was targeted in Kabul,” Zaidi revealed in his official statement.
This mutual finger-pointing has actually been occurring since last weekend, when Pakistan claimed to have struck technical support infrastructure in Kandahar Province. However, Taliban authorities insist that the attack instead hit a drug treatment facility and a fuel depot belonging to a private airline.