Over 400 killed in Pak strike on Afghanistan hospital treating drug users

A pall of grief and devastation descended upon Kabul as a reported airstrike tore through one of the capital’s largest addiction treatment centres, leaving a trail of mass casualties in what could rank among the deadliest tragedies in the city’s recent memory.

According to officials of the Taliban-led administration, the strike hit the sprawling 2,000-bed Umid addiction treatment hospital at around 9 pm, reducing large sections of the facility to rubble. The scale of destruction was immense — wards flattened, corridors charred, and the fragile lives within caught in the inferno.

Taliban deputy spokesman Mullah Hamdullah Fitrat described the attack as a catastrophic blow, alleging that the hospital was deliberately targeted. In a statement, he said the bombardment had killed around 400 people and wounded at least 250 others, warning that the toll could climb further as rescuers comb through the debris.

Echoing the anguish, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid mourned the loss of what he called “innocent and vulnerable civilians,” many of them patients seeking refuge from addiction, now claimed by violence.

Through the night, emergency responders raced against time, sifting through shattered concrete and twisted metal in search of survivors. Health ministry spokesman Sharaf Zaman said the wounded were rushed to nearby hospitals, with at least 170 patients initially evacuated as fires raged and rescue teams struggled to retrieve bodies from the ruins.

The attack has drawn swift international concern. Richard Bennett voiced alarm over the heavy civilian toll and urged restraint, while former Afghan peace negotiator Abdullah Abdullah condemned the strike as a grave breach of international law. Zalmay Khalilzad also expressed deep concern, calling for urgent humanitarian aid for those affected.

As the smoke lingers over Kabul’s skyline, the tragedy has not only deepened wounds in a war-scarred city but also reignited fears of a dangerous escalation, with the full human cost still unfolding beneath the rubble.

With IANS inputs