The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s deputy spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, said the death toll following last night’s bombardment by Pakistan’s military regime on a drug rehabilitation center(treating drug users) in the Afghan capital, Kabul, has so far increased to 400, and the number of injured has reached 250.
He further added on X “that the Pakistani military regime carried out an airstrike at approximately 9:00 PM this evening on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital, a 2,000-bed facility dedicated to the treatment of drug addiction. As a result of the attack, large sections of the hospital have been destroyed, and there are serious concerns about a high number of casualties”.
According to the BBC Pashto, dozens are feared dead or injured at the facility, which was treating over 3,000 people. The BBC team visited the hospital, parts of which were still on fire, and saw more than 30 bodies being carried out on stretchers.
Pakistan’s information ministry denied targeting the hospital facility, stating they struck “terrorist support infrastructure” in Kabul and the eastern Afghan province of Nangahar.
The spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid, told TOLOnews that following Pakistan’s military regime airstrikes on Kabul, this is not the time for diplomacy or talks with Islamabad, adding that the Islamic Emirate will retaliate.
The Afghanistan national cricket team player Rashid Khan has condemned Pakistan’s strike that targeted the hospital facility. He has expressed deep sorrow over civilian casualties in the Pakistani airstrikes in Kabul, saying that targeting civilian homes, educational centers, and medical institutions constitutes a war crime. He further emphasized on X that “the sheer disregard for human lives, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, is sickening and deeply concerning. Such crimes only fuel division and hatred”.
I call upon the UN and other human rights agencies to thoroughly investigate this latest atrocity and hold the perpetrators to account, he added.