A Pakistani airstrike destroyed a drug treatment centre in Kabul, killing more than 100 people, according to sources at Afghanistan’s forensic medicine department. Taliban officials reported a much higher toll of at least 400, but that figure had not been independently verified.
The strike hit the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital on March 16, 2026. Officials at the centre said about 2,000 people were receiving treatment there and feared that hundreds could be among the casualties. A BBC reporter at the scene saw more than 30 bodies removed on stretchers, while forensic sources said some victims were injured beyond recognition. Rescue workers continued searching the ruins the following day.
Afghanistan’s Health Ministry said there were no military facilities close to the rehabilitation centre. Residents reported powerful explosions across the capital at about 8:50 p.m., followed by aircraft noise and air-defence fire. Relatives gathered outside the destroyed complex seeking information about patients.
Pakistan denied deliberately attacking the facility. Its Information Ministry said operations in Kabul and the eastern province of Nangarhar had precisely targeted military sites and infrastructure supporting terrorism. It maintained that the strikes were planned to avoid collateral damage and accused Afghanistan of misrepresenting events. The reporting did not independently resolve whether the centre was the intended target.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan attributed the strike to Pakistani forces, condemned the attack on the hospital and called for a rapid investigation. It also urged de-escalation, an immediate ceasefire and compliance with international obligations to protect civilians.
The centre occupied an area that had previously been a US military base and later became known as a gathering place for people using drugs. After returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban converted it into a rehabilitation facility for people detained across Kabul.
The attack followed renewed cross-border conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Islamabad accused Afghanistan of sheltering militants responsible for attacks inside Pakistan, an allegation Kabul rejected. The United Nations said at least 75 people were killed and 193 wounded in Afghanistan during cross-border fighting between February 26 and March 13, despite a ceasefire agreed in October.
China, which had tried to mediate between the neighbours, urged both sides to remain calm, exercise restraint and begin face-to-face talks. Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke separately with Afghan and Pakistani officials in the week before the strike.
The sharply different casualty estimates and conflicting accounts of the intended target left key facts unsettled. What was clear from the scene was the destruction of a large civilian treatment facility and an extensive loss of life requiring independent investigation.
