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‘Barbaric airstrike’: India condemns Pak hit on Kabul hospital that killed 400
India said the attack claimed the lives of a large number of civilians in a facility that cannot be justified as a military target
India on Tuesday strongly condemned what it said was Pakistan’s “barbaric airstrike” on a drug rehabilitation centre in the Afghan capital of Kabul, which killed about 400 people, and accused Islamabad of passing off a “massacre as a military operation”.
The Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul, a 2,000-bed facility, was hit by Pakistani combat jets at 9 pm local time on Monday. Another 250 people were injured in the airstrike, which destroyed large sections of the building.
India “unequivocally condemns Pakistan’s barbaric airstrike on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital” , and the “cowardly and unconscionable act of violence” claimed the lives of a large number of civilians in a facility that cannot be justified as a military target, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
“Pakistan is now trying to dress up a massacre as a military operation,” he said. “This heinous act of aggression by Pakistan is also a blatant assault on Afghanistan’s sovereignty and a direct threat to regional peace and stability.”
The international community “must hold the perpetrators of this criminal act accountable and ensure that the wanton targeting by Pakistan of civilians in Afghanistan ceases without delay”, Jaiswal said.
India has backed the Afghan Taliban regime during Afghanistan’s ongoing clashes with Pakistan over the past few weeks. The latest round of violence began last month after Pakistan accused the Afghan Taliban of supporting the Pakistani Taliban and other terror groups responsible for cross-border attacks.
Jaiswal said Pakistan’s airstrike on the drug rehabilitation centre reflected the country’s “persistent pattern of reckless behaviour and its repeated attempts to externalise internal failures through increasingly desperate acts of violence beyond its borders”.
He said the attack was “all the more reprehensible” as it was carried out during the holy month of Ramzan, a time of peace, reflection and mercy among Muslim communities across the world. “There is no faith, no law, and no morality that can justify the deliberate targeting of a hospital and its patients,” he said.
While extending India’s condolences to the bereaved families, Jaiswal said New Delhi stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan. “We also reiterate our unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan,” he said.
Pakistan dismissed Afghanistan’s claim that the drug rehabilitation centre was targeted as “false and aimed at misleading public opinion”. The Pakistani side said it had only targeted military installations in Kabul and Nangarhar province.
Afghan Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said on social media that the death toll has reached 400, while around 250 others were injured.
The airstrike came hours after Afghan and Pakistani troops exchanged fire along the border, as the deadliest fighting between the neighbours in years entered a third week.
Senior Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the attack and said Pakistan had again “violated Afghanistan’s airspace and targeted a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul”. He said this was an act “against all accepted principles and a crime against humanity”.
