A survivor of the air strike on a Kabul drug rehabilitation centre described scenes of devastation, saying patients were engulfed in flames moments after explosions tore through the facility late Monday (16 March).
“The whole place caught fire. It was like doomsday,” said Ahmad, 50, who had been receiving treatment at the centre. “My friends were burning in the fire, and we could not save them all.”
Afghan officials say more than 400 people were killed and around 250 wounded in the strike, which they say targeted the state-run Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital at about 9:00 PM.
Rescue teams continued to search through the wreckage on Tuesday, with large parts of the complex reduced to charred debris. Witnesses said explosions struck patient areas as residents completed evening prayers.
However, uncertainty remains over the exact site that was hit.
Residents and local journalists said the facility occupies what was once Camp Phoenix, a former NATO military base that was converted into a drug treatment centre around a decade ago. Locals often refer to the site as “Omid Camp,” though officials identify it as the Ibn Sina Drug Addiction Treatment Hospital.
Pakistan rejected Afghanistan’s account of events, calling it “false and misleading”, and said its forces had targeted what it described as “military installations and terrorist support infrastructure”.
Afghan authorities deny the presence of any military infrastructure, insisting the facility was a civilian medical centre treating addiction patients.
Casualty figures and competing claims about the target can not be independently verified.
The strike comes amid the worst fighting in years between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which share a 2,600-kilometre border. Both sides accuse the other of harbouring militants, a charge Kabul denies.
International concern has grown following reports of heavy civilian casualties. Aid groups said they had witnessed large numbers of dead and wounded at hospitals across Kabul, warning that civilian infrastructure must not be targeted.
China urged restraint and renewed dialogue, while India condemned the attack, describing it as “unconscionable”.
The violence has escalated in recent weeks despite mediation efforts, and comes just days before the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan.
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Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 28 September 2026. These are the top stories making headlines in technology.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has arrived in Washington for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on bilateral ties and key regional and international developments, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
The European Union's decision to simultaneously advance accession talks with Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro and Albania marks its most ambitious enlargement effort in more than two decades.
U.S. President Donald Trump has denied reports that he offered Iran sanctions relief and access to frozen funds in exchange for nuclear concessions.
Kazakhstan and Germany have agreed to expand cooperation in critical minerals, industry, energy and transport, with Astana seeking a greater German role in developing supply chains and higher-value production.
Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom has proposed building a new 1,000-megawatt nuclear power unit in Armenia as Yerevan weighs competing international offers, its head Alexey Likhachev said on Tuesday.
Freight on the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway could soon move faster across borders after Georgia, Azerbaijan and Türkiye signed a new customs protocol aimed at cutting delays and streamlining transit.
Afghanistan and Belarus have agreed to expand health cooperation, with a focus on medicines, medical equipment and training healthcare workers, following talks between the two countries’ health ministers in Minsk on Tuesday (29 September).
Saudi Arabia is facing a widening security challenge from Yemen as Houthi forces consolidate recent territorial gains along the Red Sea coast and step up attacks on the kingdom.
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