A Pakistani airstrike on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul has killed more than 400 people, according to Afghan officials. Witnesses described scenes of horror as patients burned in their beds or were crushed by collapsing walls.
The strike, which hit the state-run Omid hospital late on Monday evening, is the deadliest single attack in a three-week conflict between the two neighbours. Afghan interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qanie said 408 people were killed and 265 injured.
Survivor Yousaf Rahim recounted: '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.' Another witness, ambulance driver Haji Fahim, said: 'Everything was burning, people were burning.'
The Norwegian Refugee Council confirmed its staff had seen large numbers of casualties. The UN has called for an independent investigation into the killings, with human rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan stating that victims and their families are entitled to reparations.
Pakistan has denied deliberately targeting the hospital, claiming it struck 'technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage facilities' used by the Afghan Taliban. The conflict, which escalated in February, has been overshadowed by the US-Israeli war on Iran.
