Dozens of people were killed or injured in an air strike on a drug treatment hospital in Kabul on Monday evening, with the Taliban government blaming Pakistan for the attack.
Officials said the hospital was treating around 2,000 patients for drug addiction at the time. Witnesses reported hearing loud explosions followed by aircraft sounds and air defence activity. The BBC observed more than 30 bodies being carried out from the partially burning hospital.
Afghanistan’s health ministry confirmed there are no military facilities near the hospital. Pakistan’s information ministry denied targeting the centre, stating its strikes were aimed at military installations and “terrorist support infrastructure” in Kabul and Nangarhar province.
The incident comes amid escalating cross-border clashes between the two countries since late February, despite a fragile ceasefire agreed in October. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), at least 75 people have been killed and 193 injured in Afghanistan as a result of ongoing fighting since February 26.
Family members of patients gathered outside the hospital, desperately seeking information on their loved ones. The strike has raised fears of hundreds of casualties and heightened tensions in the region.
With inputs from BBC