India has strongly condemned Pakistan over a deadly airstrike on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul, calling it a “barbaric massacre” and an unconscionable act of violence that cannot be justified under any circumstances. The strike targeted the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital and reportedly killed over 400 people while leaving nearly 300 injured, according to claims by the Taliban.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a sharp statement, rejecting Pakistan’s claim that the operation was aimed at military targets. “The facility can by no means be justified as a military target. Pakistan is now trying to dress up a massacre as a military operation,” the MEA said.
Pakistan, however, has denied targeting civilians and maintained that it carried out a precise strike on terrorist infrastructure. The government led by Shehbaz Sharif claimed that secondary explosions at the site indicated the presence of ammunition depots, suggesting the area was being used for militant activities.
The attack comes amid rising tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, driven largely by Islamabad’s allegations that the Afghan Taliban is providing safe haven to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Pakistan blames for multiple deadly attacks within its borders.
India described the strike as a “heinous act of aggression” and a direct violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty, warning that such actions could further destabilise an already volatile region. “It reflects Pakistan’s persistent pattern of reckless behaviour and its repeated attempts to externalise internal failures through increasingly desperate acts of violence beyond its borders,” the MEA added.
The Indian government also highlighted the timing of the strike during the holy month of Ramzan, stating that no moral, legal or religious justification could exist for targeting a hospital filled with patients.
Ground reports from Kabul paint a grim picture. Visuals circulating on social media show a building engulfed in flames, with rescue teams rushing to pull out bodies. Officials indicated that around 2,000 people were present at the facility when it was hit. The Afghan health ministry has stated that there were no military installations near the hospital.
Eyewitnesses described the horror of the attack, with one survivor recounting that it felt like multiple explosions occurring back-to-back. “The whole place caught fire. It was like doomsday. My friends were burning in the fire, and we could not save them all,” he said.
The site, once a former US military base, had been converted into a rehabilitation centre for drug addicts after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021. The latest escalation now threatens to deepen regional instability, especially at a time when global tensions are already high due to ongoing conflicts in West Asia.
