Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of killing 400 in hospital strike
Published 17 Mar, 2026 01:37 | Updated 17 Mar, 2026 07:40
Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of conducting an airstrike on a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul, which Taliban officials say killed at least 400 people.
Pakistan has been striking alleged terrorist camps in Afghanistan since February, accusing the Taliban government of supporting attacks on Pakistani soil. The Taliban has denied any involvement in the string of terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
Taliban government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the strike on Monday evening destroyed large sections of the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital.
“Unfortunately, the death toll has so far reached 400, while around 250 others have been reported injured,” Fitrat wrote on X.
Afghan media published a video showing a building engulfed in flames.
Pakistan’s Information Ministry rejected the allegations as “false and misleading.”
The ministry said Pakistan targeted military sites and “terrorist support infrastructure,” including ammunition depots in Kabul and Afghanistan’s northeastern Nangarhar region.
“This misreporting of facts as a drug rehabilitation facility seeks to stir public sentiment while covering illegitimate support for cross-border terrorism,” the ministry wrote on X.
Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of sheltering armed groups that carry out cross-border raids and terrorist attacks, including a bombing of a mosque in Islamabad in February that killed more than 30 people. The Taliban has denied that it provides aid to militants who attack Pakistan.
Bombings in Nigeria kill 23, injure 108;
Boko Haram suspected
"The cowardly attacks targeted crowded public areas in an attempt by the terrorists to inflict mass casualties and create panic within the metropolis," The New York Times reported Lt. Col. Sani Uba said in a statement Monday.
Boko Haram militants killed 75 Muslims in attacks on two villages in Kwara, Nigeria, in February after locals rejected calls to surrender. The group often kidnaps children and staff from schools.
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"Preliminary investigation reveals that the incidents were carried out by suspected suicide bombers," Borno police said in a statement. They said they are investigating to determine the identity of the attackers.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu called the attacks "profoundly upsetting" and the "desperate acts of the evil-minded terrorist groups," BBC reported. He said he ordered security chiefs to go to Maiduguri and take charge.
Modu Bukar, a resident who witnessed the market blast and helped take victims to hospital, said, "We were sitting when we suddenly heard a loud explosion. Everyone immediately started running in fear. As we ran, people kept shouting that we should keep going," The BBC reported.
The blasts happened as people were gathering to break their Ramadan fasts.
"I can't believe how a group which says it's fighting a religious cause be killing innocent people during Ramadan," Zannah Musa, 38, of Maiduguri, said in a phone interview with The Times. His sister is injured and in a hospital from the attacks. "Just look at the number of people affected," Musa said.
Nigeria recently boosted its security against militants with the help of U.S. military experts. But attacks have recently increased from Boko Haram and a splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province.
Borno Governor Babagana Umara Zulum is on a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He told people to stay calm and said there were measures in place to stop further security issues, The Times reported. He said he would "participate in special prayers with fellow Muslims in the Holy Land for an end to this protracted conflict."
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