“CONSTANT LIES”, SAYS PAKISTAN
Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Taliban, said the air strike took place at 9pm (Tuesday, 12.30am, Singapore time) on Monday and targeted the state-run Omid hospital, which he said was a 2,000-bed drug rehabilitation centre.
“Large parts of the hospital have been destroyed, and there are fears of heavy casualties,” he said in a post on X. “Sadly, the number of those killed has so far reached 400, with up to 250 others injured.”
Rescue teams were at the scene working to control the fire and recover the victims, Fitrat said.
Those killed were mostly innocent civilians and addicts, added Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
Reuters could not verify the casualty numbers. Through the conflict, both sides have claimed to have inflicted heavy damage on the other but independent verification has not been possible.
The spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister called the Afghan reference to drug users being targeted as “constant lies” and said Pakistan’s “counter-terrorism operations” would continue for as long as it took to eliminate “terrorists and their infrastructure”.
Overnight, the Pakistani Information and Broadcasting Ministry said the Afghan Taliban claim was “misreporting of facts”.
“Pakistan’s targeting is precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted,” it said in a post on X. “This misreporting of facts as drug rehabilitation facility seeks to stir sentiments, covering illegitimate support to cross-border terrorism.”
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/afghanistan-pakistan-air-strike-hospital-5997821
