Pakistan airstrike kills 400 people, 250 wounded at Kabul hospital: Taliban

The humanitarian crisis in Kabul has reached catastrophic levels following a devastating airstrike on Monday night that targeted the Omid drug rehabilitation hospital. Afghan deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat confirmed early Tuesday that the death toll has surged to 400, with an additional 250 people reported injured. Large sections of the 2,000-bed facility were reduced to rubble, trapping patients and staff under debris and sparking massive fires that rescue teams struggled to contain throughout the night.

The Taliban administration has condemned the attack as a "crime against humanity," asserting that the majority of the victims were vulnerable patients undergoing treatment. Health Ministry officials stated that the strike destroyed the hospital's infrastructure, making it impossible to continue medical operations in the area. This incident marks one of the deadliest single events in the ongoing "open war" between the two neighbors, which has seen intensified hostilities since February 2026.

Pakistan has flatly denied targeting any civilian infrastructure, including the hospital. Islamabad’s Ministry of Information maintained that its Air Force conducted "precision strikes" under the code name Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, focusing solely on military installations and ammunition storage facilities used by militant groups. Pakistan alleges that the Afghan Taliban regime is harboring proxies that carry out cross-border terrorism, a claim that Kabul continues to deny while accusing Pakistan of violating its territorial sovereignty.