Afghanistan Accuses Pakistan of Deadly Strike on Kabul Rehabilitation Center as Casualties Mount

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Afghan authorities on Tuesday accused Pakistan of carrying out an airstrike on a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul that killed civilians, while Pakistani officials said the operation targeted military installations and “terrorist support infrastructure,” according to AFP.

Heavy casualties were feared following the strike, which occurred late Monday when loud explosions were reported across the Afghan capital at around 9:00 p.m. local time, prompting anti-aircraft fire and sending residents fleeing for cover after breaking their Ramadan fast, AFP reported.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistan had “once again violated Afghan territory,” describing the attack as “a crime” and an “act of inhumanity,” according to remarks posted on social media and cited by AFP.

Pakistan rejected claims that it had deliberately struck a civilian facility. The country’s information ministry said the military had conducted precision strikes on “military installations and terrorist support infrastructure,” adding that targeting was “carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted,” AFP reported.

An AFP team that reached the site after the bombardment reported significant destruction at the rehabilitation center, with buildings burned and damaged. Emergency responders, including ambulances and firefighters, were deployed to the scene to extinguish fires and assist casualties.

AFP journalists counted at least 30 bodies at the site as rescue teams worked to evacuate the wounded to nearby hospitals. A source involved in the rescue operation confirmed that medical teams were treating multiple casualties.

Dejan Panic, Afghan director of the Italian NGO Emergency, said the organization had received three bodies and was treating 27 wounded following the strike, according to AFP.

Afghan officials, however, reported significantly higher casualty figures. Health ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said preliminary reports indicated more than 200 people had been killed and more than 200 injured. Deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the number of wounded had reached at least 250 and suggested the death toll could be higher, AFP reported.

An eyewitness at the site described the sequence of events leading to the strike. Omid Stanikzai, a security guard at the rehabilitation center, told AFP that he heard a jet flying overhead and observed nearby military units engaging it.

“There were military units all around us. When these military units fired on the jet, the jet dropped bombs and a fire broke out,” he said. Stanikzai added that all of the casualties were civilians.

The strike in Kabul occurred as part of an intensifying cross-border conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to AFP, Pakistani forces have carried out multiple strikes in Kabul in recent weeks, following accusations that Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have allowed militants to operate from their territory and conduct attacks inside Pakistan.

Pakistan said it also targeted sites in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province on Monday, describing the area as being used “against innocent Pakistani civilians,” AFP reported.

The escalation follows months of rising tensions between the two countries. Cross-border clashes intensified in October last year, resulting in dozens of deaths before subsiding. Fighting resumed last month and has since expanded, with Pakistan describing the situation as “open war,” according to AFP.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan confirmed that at least 75 civilians have been killed since clashes intensified on February 26, AFP reported.

The conflict has also triggered significant displacement. The United Nations refugee agency said approximately 115,000 people have been forced to leave their homes due to the violence, while cross-border trade between the two countries has largely halted, according to AFP.

Humanitarian agencies have warned of worsening conditions. The World Food Programme said it had begun delivering “life-saving food” to more than 20,000 displaced Afghan families and cautioned that further instability could deepen food insecurity, AFP reported.

Diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation have so far yielded limited results. China said its special envoy had spent a week mediating between Afghanistan and Pakistan and had called for an immediate ceasefire, according to AFP.

However, analysts cited by AFP said the conflict shows little indication of easing. Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Atlantic Council, said mediation efforts by regional and international actors have faced challenges.

“The Arab Gulf nations that mediated previous rounds of Afghanistan-Pakistan talks are now bogged down by their own war. Other mediators, including China, have had limited success,” he said.

Kugelman added that both sides appear committed to continuing hostilities. “Pakistan appears intent to keep hitting targets in Afghanistan, and the Taliban determined to retaliate with operations on Pakistani border posts and potentially with asymmetric tactics — from launching drones to sponsoring militant attacks in wider Pakistan,” he said, according to AFP.

The Kabul strike has intensified concerns about civilian safety as the conflict expands into urban areas. Afghan officials have maintained that civilian infrastructure has been affected, while Pakistan has continued to assert that its operations are focused on security targets.

The incident underscores the widening scope of the confrontation, which now includes repeated strikes on major population centers and cross-border military activity.