The Taliban say a Pakistani military airstrike struck the Omid (Hope) drug rehabilitation center in Kabul late Monday, killing more than 400 people and wounding about 250. Taliban officials said the strike hit the large, 2,000‑bed facility in Police District 9 at around 9 p.m. Hamdullah Firtat, a Taliban spokesman, posted that “large parts of the hospital have been destroyed” and that rescuers were still removing bodies from the rubble.
Sharafat Zaman, a spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry of Public Health, told CBS News the toll could rise as search-and-rescue operations continue. Videos shared with CBS show the hospital burning while firefighters and rescue teams carry dead and injured on stretchers. A nearby hospital worker, Muhammad Ashraf, said he heard several gunshots followed by two loud explosions.
Pakistan rejected the Taliban’s account, calling the claims false and saying visible secondary detonations after the strikes indicate large ammunition depots were hit. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on social media that Pakistani forces carried out “precision airstrikes” on March 16 targeting Afghan Taliban military installations in Kabul and Nangarhar, destroying technical infrastructure and ammunition storage at two Kabul locations. CBS reported that the footage it reviewed did not appear to show secondary explosions or gunfire after the initial blasts.
Omid is housed in a former NATO camp and treats thousands of largely young Afghans battling addiction, which is a major social problem in the country. The incident comes amid weeks of intense cross-border attacks that began in late February, with Pakistan saying it is in an “open war” with Afghanistan and targeting groups it describes as terrorists. Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of violating its sovereignty, and the Taliban have responded with drone strikes on Pakistani cities.
Last week the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported at least four civilians killed and 14 injured in a Kabul airstrike. A Qatar-brokered ceasefire collapsed in February, and China has said its special envoy is shuttling between Kabul and Islamabad to mediate, urging an immediate ceasefire and direct talks. Pakistan has blamed armed groups such as Tehrik‑e‑Taliban Pakistan for attacks launched from Afghan soil; the Taliban deny harboring TTP and say the group is Pakistan’s internal issue.