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India on Tuesday strongly condemned Pakistan’s alleged air strike on a major drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul that Afghan authorities say killed at least 400 people and injured around 250, describing the attack as a “barbaric” assault on civilians and a violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty.
In a statement issued on March 17, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the overnight strike on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul was an “unconscionable act of violence” against a civilian facility that could not be justified as a military target.
“India unequivocally condemns Pakistan’s barbaric airstrike on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul on the night of March 16,” the MEA Spokesperson said. “This is a cowardly act of violence that has claimed the lives of a large number of civilians in a facility which can by no means be justified as a military target.”
The statement accused Pakistan of attempting to “dress up a massacre as a military operation” and warned that the strike posed a direct threat to regional stability.
Afghan Taliban officials said the air strike took place around 9 p.m. on Monday and hit the state-run Omid hospital, a major drug rehabilitation centre in the Afghan capital. Hamdullah Fitrat, Deputy Spokesman for the Taliban government, said large sections of the facility were destroyed in the bombing.
“Sadly, the number of those killed has so far reached 400, with up to 250 others injured,” Fitrat said, adding that rescue teams were continuing to search for victims trapped under debris.
Reuters said it could not independently verify the casualty figures.
Witnesses described scenes of devastation as bombs struck the hospital complex while patients were completing evening prayers during the holy month of Ramzan.
“The whole place caught fire. It was like doomsday,” said Ahmad, a 50-year-old patient undergoing treatment at the facility. “My friends were burning in the fire, and we could not save them all.”
Local media footage showed flames engulfing parts of the single-storey complex as thick smoke rose into the night sky. Ambulances and emergency workers were seen carrying bodies away on stretchers while rescue teams searched through the rubble.
Pakistan rejected the accusations, calling the reports “false and misleading”. Islamabad said its air force had carried out precision strikes on “military installations and terrorist support infrastructure”.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said visible secondary explosions after the strikes indicated the presence of ammunition depots at the targeted location.
In a separate statement, Pakistan’s Information Ministry said its operations were “carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage,” accusing the Afghan Taliban of misrepresenting the site as a drug rehabilitation facility to generate sympathy.
The strike marks a sharp escalation in tensions between the two neighbours, whose relations have deteriorated rapidly over the past month. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harbouring militants responsible for attacks inside its territory, an allegation the Taliban government denies.
Fighting between the two countries, which share a 2,600-km border, has intensified in recent weeks despite attempts by countries including China to mediate and reduce tensions ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
India, in its statement, also noted that the attack occurred during the holy month of Ramzan, calling it “all the more reprehensible”.
“There is no faith, no law and no morality that can justify the deliberate targeting of a hospital and its patients,” the MEA said.
New Delhi extended condolences to the families of the victims and reaffirmed its support for Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Team Bharatshakti
