At least 400 people were killed and another 250 injured in a Pakistani airstrike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in the Afghan capital Kabul last night, the Taliban government in Afghanistan said this morning, Reuters reported.
Pakistan rejected the claim as false and misleading and said its airstrikes, which were also carried out in eastern Afghanistan, did not hit any civilian targets, and last night "targeted its strikes precisely at military facilities and infrastructure supporting terrorists."
The Associated Press notes that this marks a serious escalation in the conflict between the two countries, which began late last month, in which there were repeated clashes, as well as airstrikes on Afghan territory. International calls for a ceasefire have gone unanswered.
The deputy spokesman for the Afghan government, Hamdullah Fitrat, wrote on the social media platform “Ex“ that the airstrike hit the hospital in Kabul at around 9:00 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. Bulgarian time), destroying large parts of the 2,000-bed facility. According to the spokesman, the death toll “so far” has reached at least 400 people, with about 250 injured.
Local TV channels broadcast video footage in “Ex“ showing Afghan security forces using flashlights to carry out the wounded, and firefighters struggling to put out the flames in the ruins of the building. Fitrat said rescue teams were working to contain the fire and recover the bodies of the victims.
The strike came hours after Afghan officials said the two countries had exchanged fire along their shared border, killing four people in Afghanistan, as the deadliest fighting between the neighbors in years entered its third week.