The Afghan Government has reported that, at least, 400 people have lost their lives and another 250 have been injured this Monday after a bombing by the Pakistani Army against the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital, located in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. Emergency teams continue to work to extinguish the fire caused by the explosion and access the interior of the building.
“Unfortunately, the death toll has risen to 400 so far, while it has been reported that another 250 people have been injured”, lamented the deputy spokesman for the Taliban-established Executive, Hamdullah Fitrat, in a message published on his social media in which he added that rescuers are currently working to “recover the bodies of the victims”.
The airstrike occurred around 9:00 p.m. (5:30 p.m. in Spain) against this center specialized in the care of people with addictions, which has an approximate capacity of 2,000 beds, according to Fitrat himself.
“As a consequence of the attack, large areas of the hospital have been destroyed and there is great concern for the high number of victims,” the spokesperson has acknowledged.
In the same vein, the main Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, has "strongly" condemned the attack, stating that "it goes against all accepted principles" and stressing that "it constitutes a crime against humanity."
Pakistan affirms that the objective of the attack was military
Pakistani authorities, however, deny that the bombing hit a hospital in Kabul and maintain that their operation consisted of “precision bombings” against military targets in Kabul and Nangarhar. “The technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage facilities at two locations in Kabul were practically destroyed. Visible secondary detonations after the attacks clearly indicate the presence of large ammunition depots,” said Information Minister Ataullah Tarar.
According to what he insisted, the attacks were confined to infrastructure used by the Afghan Taliban and their allies. “The false claims of the Taliban regime cannot deceive Afghans or the world about its atrocious actions of supporting and financing terrorism in the region,” he indicated.
In a statement disseminated on social media, the Ministry of Information has stressed that the hospital that Afghanistan claims was hit is “several kilometers away” from the military points attacked. It also questions whether the damaged building actually corresponds to the health center, based on images and features of the property, and concludes by asking why “a supposed drug rehabilitation center would be located next to a lethal ammunition depot in a military camp.”
Conflictive zone
The border strip between Afghanistan and Pakistan has for years dragged a high instability, marked by attacks by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group and by Islamabad's accusations against India and the Afghan Taliban for their alleged support for the organization, something that both New Delhi and Kabul have rejected.
This context led to a new escalation at the end of February, after Pakistan launched several bombings against alleged enclaves of the TTP, known as the Pakistani Taliban, and of Islamic State in Afghan territory, which prompted the authorities controlled by the Taliban to respond with military operations in the border area.