Afghanistan says Pakistan strike kills 400 at rehab clinic

Bilal Hussain and Khalid Qayum, Bloomberg News on Mar 17, 2026

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Afghanistan’s Taliban government said Pakistan’s latest airstrikes killed 400 people at a drug treatment hospital in Kabul, marking a dramatic escalation between the neighbors.

Islamabad said in several statements that the strikes targeted military infrastructure and denied hitting the hospital. “Pakistan’s targeting is precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted,” its Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a post on X.

The Taliban government said the strike destroyed large sections of the 2,000-bed rehabilitation facility. Rescue teams are working to control a fire and recover victims’ bodies, Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesperson for the Taliban government, said in a post on X.

Reports from media organizations, including Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press, described rescue crews pulling bodies from the rubble of the facility. AFP said its reporters counted at least 30 bodies being removed and saw medics treating dozens of wounded.

The Taliban government said Pakistan would soon receive a “crushing response,” Afghanistan’s Tolonews reported, citing a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry.

The two sides have clashed repeatedly since fighting erupted along their shared border last month. Islamabad declared an “open war” with Afghanistan in February and has since struck military and other facilities deeper inside the country. Pakistan accuses the Taliban of hosting militant groups that plan attacks inside its territory, an allegation Kabul denies.

While Afghanistan’s limited military capacity keeps the conflict reined in, the violence risks further destabilizing a part of Asia where the U.S., China and India all have significant interests.

India’s foreign ministry on Tuesday condemned “Pakistan’s barbaric airstrike on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul,” calling it a “cowardly and unconscionable act of violence.” It had also condemned Pakistan’s earlier airstrikes in Afghan territory, which Islamabad slammed as “shamefully hypocritical.”

Islamabad has accused New Delhi of backing both the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban — an allegation India denies. At the same time, Afghanistan and India have stepped up discussions on opening new trade routes that would bypass Pakistan.

China, which has significant investments in Pakistan and is keen to expand its economic influence in Afghanistan, has been seeking to contain the tensions. Earlier this month, Beijing sent a special envoy to Afghanistan in an attempt to revive peace talks, after a truce brokered by Qatar and Turkey in October fell apart. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also held a phone call with his Pakistani counterpart Mohammad Ishaq Dar, according to a statement from Beijing, emphasizing the need to prevent the conflict from widening.

“China has urged both Afghanistan and Pakistan to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, adding that Beijing hopes a ceasefire is reached “as soon as possible.”

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have steadily deteriorated since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces. Pakistan has reported a significant rise in violence in its border regions over the past four years.

Operations won’t halt until Kabul stops supporting militant groups, Pakistan’s powerful army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, has previously said.

Pakistan also faces additional strain as it shares a border with Iran, which is currently involved in a war with the U.S. and Israel, raising the risk of broader regional instability. The conflict with Afghanistan, along with energy concerns tied to the Iran war as oil prices surge, has wiped off returns from Pakistan dollar bonds this year. The debt is now on track to deliver losses of more than 5% since the conflict began in late February. The benchmark KSE-100 Index has fallen about 11% over the period.

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—With assistance from Malavika Kaur Makol, Tooba Khan, Jon Herskovitz, Claire Jiao and Eltaf Najafizada.