Islamabad (Pakistan)

Pakistan overnight carried out "precision airstrikes" targeting what it described as terrorists and their support infrastructure locations across Afghanistan, but the Afghan government accused Islamabad of bombing a rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, killing at least 400 people.

The latest strikes came as Operation Ghazab lil Haq, launched on February 26, continued, according to Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Pakistan launched the operation in response to alleged attacks by the Afghan Taliban forces along the 2,600-km-long border.

"Pakistan's Armed Forces successfully carried out precision airstrikes on the night of 16 March as a part of Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, targeting Afghan Taliban regime terrorism sponsoring military installations in Kabul and Nangarhar," Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a post on X.

He claimed that the technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage facilities at two locations in Kabul were effectively destroyed. "The visible secondary detonations after the strikes clearly indicate the presence of large ammunition depots,” he added.

He claimed four Afghan Taliban regime “terrorism sponsoring” military sites were also struck in Nangarhar, destroying associated logistics, ammunition and technical infrastructure.

However, Deputy Spokesman of the Afghan Taliban-led government, Hamdullah Fitrat, said that Monday night's bombardment by Pakistan targeted a drug rehabilitation centre in the Afghan capital, resulting in the death of at least 400 people. He said 250 others were injured.

In a post on X, Fitrat said the strike destroyed large sections of the hospital and rescue teams were trying to recover the bodies from the rubble.

Citing health officials at the hospital, TOLOnews Tuesday reported that more than 50 bodies are still believed to be trapped under the debris as rescue operations continue.

The airstrike destroyed five blocks of the rehabilitation compound, where up to 3,000 patients were receiving treatment, it said.

Deputy Interior Minister Muhammad Nabi Omari, who visited the site, said that Pakistan “has undertaken a project to kill Afghans.” 

Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Afghan government, said his country will respond forcefully to Pakistan's aggression.

Tarar, however, claimed that Pakistan "precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure", including technical equipment storage and ammunition storage of Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij in Kabul and Nangarhar that were being used against innocent Pakistani civilians.

Fitna al-Khawarij is a term the state uses to refer to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

"False claims made by the propagandists of the Taliban regime cannot fool the Afghans and the World from their heinous actions supporting and sponsoring terrorism in the region,” he said.

According to the data shared by Tarar, 684 Afghan Taliban operatives have been killed and another 912 injured so far.

He said their 252 posts had been destroyed, while 44 were captured and then destroyed. He added that 229 tanks, armoured vehicles, and artillery guns of the Taliban regime had been destroyed.

Nearly 73 "terrorists and their support infrastructure locations across Afghanistan have been effectively targeted", he added.

In a statement, Pakistan's information ministry said that the post-strike detonation of stored ammunition being used by the master terror proxy fully contradicts the Afghan Taliban's claim.

The ministry also rejected the Taliban statement that Pakistan strikes hit civilians, adding that Pakistan’s targeting is "precise and carefully undertaken" to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted.

“This misreporting of facts as a drug rehabilitation facility seeks to stir sentiments, covering illegitimate support to cross-border terrorism,” the ministry said.

Separately, security sources said that in the Afghan province of Nangarhar, Pakistani forces targeted the Afghan Taliban’s military installations at four spots. Logistics, ammunition and technical infrastructure adjacent to these installations were also destroyed, the sources added.

They further said a drone assembly workshop, “headquarters from where drones were sent,” and weapon stocks were also destroyed in Nangarhar and Kabul.

According to the sources, drones were prepared at those workshops using parts made in Israel.

Six targets had been successfully targeted in Kabul and Nangarhar, they said, adding that there were also reports of several terrorists having been killed.

Earlier, the armed forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram sector targeted and destroyed important Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij hideouts, security sources said.

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“During these operations, several khawarij were killed while the rest managed to escape,” a security source said.

The armed forces also destroyed Afghan Taliban posts across the Pak-Afghan border in KP’s Bajaur sector, security sources said, adding that the forces targeted Afghan Taliban posts with “guided missiles”.