Pakistan airstrike on Kabul drug rehabilitation center kills at least 100

# Pakistan Called Striking a Hospital 'Inhumane and Indefensible.' Then One of Its Airstrikes Hit a Hospital.

In October 2023, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry issued a statement about an airstrike near a hospital in Gaza. It called such an act "inhumane and indefensible" and "a grave violation of international law." In August 2025, after another strike hit a hospital in Gaza, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry called it "unconscionable and heinous" — "a grave violation of international human rights and humanitarian law."

On Monday evening, a Pakistani airstrike struck the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul. According to [forensic laboratory sources cited by the BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g8n7e0l40o), at least 100 bodies were received at the Kabul Forensic Medicine Department. A BBC reporter at the scene directly observed more than 30 bodies carried out on stretchers.

Pakistan's Information Minister described the strikes as "precise" with "no collateral damage." No hospital, he said, had been targeted.

---

## What Happened

At approximately 20:50–21:00 local time on Monday, [an airstrike struck the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g8n7e0l40o), according to Afghan officials, UN observers, and on-the-ground BBC reporting. The timing coincided with iftar — the Ramadan evening meal breaking the daily fast. [Survivor Mohammad Shafee told the BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg1kgz6wkgo) he was in the kitchen helping serve dinner when the explosion hit, and that only five of his colleagues survived. Doctor Maiwand Hoshmand confirmed patients had just finished eating.

The facility was designed to hold approximately 2,000 patients, [according to both BBC reporting and facility officials](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g8n7e0l40o). The site itself has a complicated history: it was built on the grounds of Camp Phoenix, a former US and NATO military training compound, [converted into a rehabilitation centre around 2016](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg1kgz6wkgo).

The Taliban government claims approximately 400 people were killed. Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani put the figure at 408 killed and 265 injured, [according to PBS NewsHour/AP](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/rescue-crews-dig-bodies-from-ruins-of-kabul-hospital-hit-by-airstrike-blamed-on-pakistan). Neither figure has been independently verified. The floor — 100 confirmed dead — is corroborated by forensic sources independent of the Afghan government.

---

## Pakistan's Position

Pakistan has not denied conducting strikes in Kabul. What it denies is the characterization of what was struck.

[Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, cited by PBS NewsHour/AP](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/rescue-crews-dig-bodies-from-ruins-of-kabul-hospital-hit-by-airstrike-blamed-on-pakistan), stated: "No hospital, no drug rehabilitation center, and no civilian facility was targeted." Pakistan's military said its strikes were "precisely targeted" at military installations and "terrorist support infrastructure." In a separate claim cited only by PBS/AP, Pakistan's Information Ministry described Camp Phoenix — the former NATO base whose grounds the hospital occupies — as a "military terrorist ammunition and equipment storage site," and asserted the hospital was "multiple kilometers" away from the strike. Pakistan's account conflicts with on-the-ground reports from survivors, Afghan officials, and UN observers.

---

## The Contested Ground — Literally

The geography here is genuinely disputed. [PBS NewsHour/AP](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/rescue-crews-dig-bodies-from-ruins-of-kabul-hospital-hit-by-airstrike-blamed-on-pakistan) describes the Omid hospital as "adjacent to" Camp Phoenix. Pakistan's ministry claims it is "multiple kilometers" away — a direct factual contradiction that neither side has resolved with independent verification. PBS/AP further notes that Google Maps shows an additional location east of Kabul also labeled Camp Phoenix, adding geographic ambiguity to an already contested picture.

The question of military proximity cuts both ways. Afghanistan's health ministry spokesman told the BBC there were no military facilities near the rehabilitation centre. But [security guard Omid Stanikzai, speaking to AFP and cited by the BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg1kgz6wkgo), said military units were stationed around the facility and fired on the Pakistani aircraft before bombs were dropped. These two accounts — both from the Afghan side — directly contradict each other. Neither has been independently corroborated.

---

## The Broader Conflict

The strike did not occur in isolation. [Pakistan has declared it is in "open war" with Afghanistan](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/rescue-crews-dig-bodies-from-ruins-of-kabul-hospital-hit-by-airstrike-blamed-on-pakistan), with fighting now in its third week following an October ceasefire that collapsed in late February 2026. [UNAMA figures cited by the BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g8n7e0l40o) documented at least 75 Afghan civilians killed and 193 injured between February 26 and March 13 alone, before Monday's strike.

[UNAMA condemned the strike](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g8n7e0l40o) and called for an immediate ceasefire and compliance with international humanitarian law. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also called for a swift investigation into whether the strike violated international humanitarian law, [according to PBS NewsHour/AP](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/rescue-crews-dig-bodies-from-ruins-of-kabul-hospital-hit-by-airstrike-blamed-on-pakistan).

In October 2023, Pakistan agreed that such investigations were warranted — when the hospital in question was in Gaza.

---

## What to Watch

- **Independent casualty verification.** The confirmed floor is 100 dead. Afghan government figures cite 400+. The gap between those numbers matters, and independent investigators have not yet closed it. - **The Camp Phoenix question.** Whether the hospital was adjacent to or kilometers from the intended target is the crux of Pakistan's legal defense. Satellite imagery analysis and independent site reporting could resolve this — or deepen it. - **Afghan military co-location.** Security guard Omid Stanikzai's account — that Afghan military units were stationed around the facility — is a single-source, unverified claim that could significantly complicate the civilian-facility characterization if corroborated. - **Ceasefire prospects.** China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi has reportedly spoken with both Afghan and Pakistani counterparts in recent days, according to one BBC source — though this has not been corroborated elsewhere. Any diplomatic off-ramp will likely require addressing accountability for Monday's strike. - **Pakistan's own paper trail.** Its Foreign Ministry statements from October 2023 and August 2025 are now in the evidentiary record of any future international inquiry. Whether that record is raised — and by whom — is worth watching.