Hundreds were feared dead after a strike on a hospital treating drug users in the Afghan capital of Kabul, which officials from Afghanistan blamed on the Pakistani military. Afghanistan’s deputy government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said the death toll had “so far” reached 400 people, while about 250 people had been reported injured. He said most of those killed and wounded were patients undergoing treatment at the facility.
Pakistan rejected the claim as false and misleading and said it “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure” on Monday night, dismissing allegations it had hit a civilian target. Sharafat Zaman, the Taliban’s health ministry spokesperson, said there were about 3,000 patients in the state-run Omid hospital at the time of the strike. Local television stations posted footage of firefighters struggling to extinguish flames among the ruins of a building.
“The whole place caught fire. It was like doomsday,” said Ahmad, 50, a security guard at the hospital. Of the 25 people staying in the hospital’s staff dormitory, he was the only one to survive. The strikes were reported to begin around 9pm on Monday night. Omid Stanikzai, 31, a security guard at the drug treatment centre, told AFP the assault began with the firing of anti-aircraft guns.
Witnesses reported severe damage to the building, with sections collapsing after the strike. On Tuesday morning, only blackened walls and piles of debris remained while rescue teams searched the rubble for survivors. Ambulance driver Haji Fahim said he had arrived at the hospital to find “everything was burning, people were burning”.
“We were inside the wards when the explosion happened,” said Yousaf Rahim, a patient. “My bed was in the corner, and I suffered injuries to my leg and thigh. It was a horrific scene. Patients fell from their beds, screaming and running as fire and smoke filled the wards and rooms.” Dejan Panic, Afghan director of the Italian NGO Emergency, said it had received three bodies after the strike on Monday night and was treating 27 wounded.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, said he was “dismayed” by reports of the air strikes and civilian casualties. “I urge parties to de-escalate, exercise maximum restraint and respect international law, including the protection of civilians and civilian objects such as hospitals.” The alleged attack came hours after Afghan officials said the two sides had exchanged fire along their common border, killing four people in Afghanistan, as deadly fighting between the neighbouring countries continued to worsen.
