Pakistani aircraft bombs Kabul hospital; leaves over 400 killed, 250 injured

The airstrike by Pakistani jets on an addiction treatment hospital in Kabul has resulted in over 400 deaths and more than 250 injured, according to Afghan health authorities. Hamdullah Fitrat, the Deputy Spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, said that rescue teams were working to control the fire at the building and recover bodies from the rubble.

Videos show fragments of a bomb dropped by Pakistani military jets on an addiction treatment hospital in Kabul.

The airstrike has drawn reactions from prominent Afghan cricketers. Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi took to Twitter to express their concern over the attack.

Mohammad Nabi tweeted, "Tonight in Kabul, hope was extinguished at a hospital. Young men seeking treatment were murdered in a bombing by the Pakistani military regime. Mothers waited at the gates, calling their sons’ names. On the 28th night of Ramadan, their lives were cut short."

Rashid Khan said that targeting civilian homes, educational facilities and medical infrastructure, either intentionally or by mistake is a war crime. He further called upon the United Nations (UN) and other human rights agencies to thoroughly investigate the "latest atrocity" and hold the perpetrators to account. 

Previously, Islamabad denied hitting a hospital, saying that its strikes in Kabul and eastern Afghanistan on Monday did not target any civilian sites and targeted military infrastructure instead. The comment came after Afghanistan's Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said in an interview with Afghan media, “All parts of the drug treatment hospital had been destroyed." 

Sharing the interview, Afghanistan's government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid wrote on X, “Most of those killed and wounded were patients undergoing treatment at the facility."

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's spokesman, Mosharraf Zaidi, dismissed the allegation that a hospital in Kabul was hit. Pakistan's Ministry of Information said that the strikes “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure,” including equipment storage and ammunition facilities used by Afghan Taliban and Pakistan-based militants.

It added that the operation was carried out carefully to ensure "no collateral damage is inflicted," calling Mujahid's claim "false and misleading". 

Meanwhile, authorities continue to assess the full extent of the damage caused by the bombing. Rescue efforts are underway to assist the injured and recover those trapped under debris.

The incident marks a serious escalation in violence in the region. The use of military jets in this manner has prompted calls for restraint and an investigation into the attack.