Pakistan airstrike kills 408 at rehab in Kabul

Pakistan said it had only targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure

- Reuters [e-mail]

The Taliban has said Pakistan targeted a 2,000-bed state-run drug rehabilitation centre named Omid Hospital.

(AP)

More than 400 people were killed and 265 wounded in an airstrike by Pakistan on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul, a spokesman of the Afghan Taliban government said on Tuesday, a sharp escalation in the conflict between the neighbours.

Pakistan rejected the statement as false and misleading and said it had “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure” on Monday night.

The airstrike came hours after China said it remained ready to continue efforts to ease tensions between the South Asian Islamic nations and urged both to avoid expanding the war and return to the negotiating table.

The conflict that began last month is the worst between the neighbours, who share a 2,600km border. Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Taliban, said in a post on X the airstrike took place at 9pm (1630 GMT) on Monday and targeted the state-run Omid Hospital, which he said was a 2,000-bed drug rehabilitation centre.

The Pakistani information ministry said Omid Hospital was miles away from Camp Phoenix, the “military terrorist ammunition and equipment storage site” that it said was targeted.