Kabul: Afghan govt says Pakistan strikes Kabul and border provinces
kabul — Khalil Zadran, Kabul police spokesman, said Pakistan carried out airstrikes on the capital and on border provinces, killing four people in the capital and wounding 15. Taliban officials and the health ministry made far higher casualty claims for a strike on a drug-treatment hospital in the city, while Pakistan’s information ministry said its operations struck militant infrastructure. The International Organization for Migration said border attacks significantly damaged its transit centre at Torkham.
Kabul damages and casualty claims
Khalil Zadran, Kabul police spokesman, said homes were hit in the capital and that four people were killed and 15 wounded when residential areas were struck. Abdul Rahim Tarakil, a local representative, said, “Two men and two women were martyred, ” and stressed that the damaged neighbourhood held no military posts and was home to ordinary residents. Observers in the Guzar area described one destroyed house and around a dozen others badly damaged with collapsed roofs and walls, and police were present at the scene.
Affected residents gave graphic first-hand accounts. Abdul Wahid, a 29-year-old daily labourer, said his house was hit and that he and family members were wounded; he recalled being trapped under bricks after the strike at about 12: 10 a. m. local time, an event recorded as 7: 10 p. m. GMT on Thursday and noted in this report as 2: 10 p. m. ET on Thursday when the incident was documented. He described rescue efforts by neighbours who removed rubble and took the wounded to a clinic.
Kabul hospital claim and official denials
The Taliban’s deputy spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, said 400 people were killed and 250 injured in a strike that Kabul said hit a drug-treatment hospital; Sharafat Zaman, the health ministry spokesman, earlier gave a death toll of more than 200 and said all parts of the treatment facility had been destroyed and that around 3, 000 people were under treatment at the centre at the time. Pakistan’s information ministry rejected civilian-hit claims and said its strikes “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure, including technical equipment storage and ammunition storage of Afghan Taliban” and other militants in Kabul and Nangarhar.
Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister, denied that the strikes hit any civilian sites and described claims that a hospital was struck as false and misleading; Pakistan’s statements said the strikes were aimed at facilities used against Pakistani civilians. Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said strikes also hit Kandahar and the eastern provinces of Paktia and Paktika, and that a fuel depot near Kandahar airport, which supplies civilian airlines and United Nations aircraft, was struck.
Immediate reactions and humanitarian impact
Residents reported firing near the Torkham border crossing and anti-aircraft defences responded to aircraft overhead in Nangarhar, a local army spokesman said. A senior police officer in Kohat in northwest Pakistan said “explosive material” was dropped from drones and wounded three people. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the border attacks significantly damaged its Torkham transit centre for Afghans deported en masse from Pakistan.
Statements from named officials on both sides show sharply divergent narratives: Afghan and Taliban spokespeople cited civilian deaths and hospital devastation, while Pakistani official spokespeople insisted the strikes hit militant-related targets. Eyewitness injury accounts and infrastructure damage have been cited by local representatives and the health ministry as further evidence of civilian harm.
Quick context and what’s next
Islamabad launched a military operation last month targeting Islamist extremists after a rise in attacks inside Pakistan, and Pakistan declared it was in “open war” with Afghanistan on 27 February. The Taliban government has denied that Afghan territory was being used to harbour militants.
Conflicting claims from Kabul and Islamabad mean verification is likely to remain contested; further statements are expected from health authorities, security spokespeople and humanitarian agencies as investigations continue. Further updates are anticipated as kabul officials, Pakistani authorities and aid organizations provide additional details and casualty confirmations.
