PAKISTAN - More than 100 people have been killed in a Pakistani air strike on a drug treatment centre in Afghanistan's capital, forensic laboratory sources told the BBC.
Some of the bodies were injured beyond recognition, sources at the Kabul Forensic Medicine department said. Taliban officials have put casualty figures much higher. The UN called for a swift investigation. Pakistan denied striking the facility deliberately, saying it had "precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure". The cross-border conflict re-erupted last month, with Pakistan saying Afghanistan was harbouring militants who attacked its territory, something Kabul denied.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama) condemned the strike, which it said had been carried out by Pakistani forces on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital. "Unama reiterates its call for de-escalation and an immediate ceasefire, and for parties to comply with their obligations under international law to ensure the protection of civilians," a statement said. Some 2,000 people were being treated at the rehab centre, according to officials at the facility, who believe there could be hundreds of casualties. The Afghan health ministry's spokesman, Sharafat Zaman Amarkhail, told the BBC there were no military facilities near the rehabilitation centre. Residents reported hearing loud explosions across Kabul at around 20:50 (16:20 GMT) on Monday, followed by the sound of aircraft and air defence systems. Family members of those being treated at the centre were gathered outside, desperately trying to find out information about their loved ones.
A Taliban government spokesman said the death toll had reached at least 400, but the BBC has not independently verified the numbers. A BBC reporter at the scene saw more than 30 bodies carried out on stretchers on Monday evening. Pakistan's information ministry said the strikes in Kabul and the eastern province of Nangarhar had been "precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted". It dismissed Afghanistan's claim as a "misreporting of facts... [that] seeks to stir sentiments, covering illegitimate support to cross-border terrorism". (BBC)
