The Pakistani military has again attacked targets in the Afghan capital Kabul.
03/17/2026, 03:5303/17/2026, 03:53
In the attack on a rehabilitation clinic for drug addicts, 400 people were killed and around 250 others were injured, wrote deputy Taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat on the X platform. Pakistan rejected the account. The information provided by both parties to the conflict could not initially be independently verified.
An image released by the Taliban after Pakistani airstrikes.Image: keystone
The Pakistani Ministry of Information said on The attacks would be carried out “precisely” to avoid collateral damage, it was said.
According to Afghan information, the clinic in Kabul will have 2,000 beds. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, said in an X-Post that he was “dismayed by recent reports of Pakistani air strikes in Afghanistan and the resulting civilian casualties.”
Civilian casualties in almost three weeks of conflict
After the attacks, television images from the Afghan television station Tolonews showed extensive columns of fire and smoke and large crowds of people during rescue work in destroyed facilities.
Just a few days ago, Pakistan attacked targets in Afghanistan. According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama), air strikes in Kabul resulted in deaths and injuries. Up to and including last Friday, at least 75 civilians had been killed and 193 injured in the conflict in Afghanistan since the end of February, Unama said at the time.
Afghanistan, in turn, had recently also attacked targets in Pakistan, for example in the capital Islamabad.
Taliban: No time for diplomacy
There had already been mutual attacks last autumn. A sustainable peace could not be achieved in various rounds of talks. Pakistan accuses the Islamist Taliban ruling in Kabul of supporting terrorist groups. The Taliban reject the allegations.
The latest escalation of the conflict followed Pakistani air strikes on February 22 in two Afghan provinces. At the end of February, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif spoke of an “open war”.
China recently tried to mediate in the conflict. The Taliban, who were militarily inferior, had also pushed for dialogue. This could change with the recent air strikes on Kabul.
Taliban government spokesman Sabiullah Mujahid told broadcaster Tolonews after the recent attacks on Kabul that now was not the time for diplomacy. Afghanistan will strike back, he said. (sda/dpa)