An Afghan hospital was overflowing with bodies on Tuesday (March 17) after strikes on a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul.

More than 400 people were killed and 265 wounded in an airstrike by Pakistan on a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul, a spokesman of the Afghan Taliban government said on Tuesday, a sharp escalation in the conflict between the neighbours.

Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Taliban, said in a post on X the airstrike took place at 9 p.m. (1630 GMT) on Monday and targeted the state-run Omid Hospital, which he said was a 2,000-bed drug rehabilitation center.

Pakistan rejected the statement as false and misleading and said it had "precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure" on Monday night (March 16).

The conflict that began last month is the worst between the neighbours, who share a 2,600-km (1,600-mile) border

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (MARCH 17, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF HOSPITAL STAFF INSPECTING BODY BAGS AT MORGUE

2. BODY BAGS

3. HOSPITAL STAFF NEAR BODY BAGS

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto), HEAD OF FORENSICS MEDICINE DEPARTMENT, NAJIBULLAH FAROOQI, SAYING:

"When the hospital for addicts was attacked by Pakistan’s military regime, we were informed and I instructed our team to be prepared. At around 11 a.m., after the fire had been extinguished, the bodies of the martyrs were brought here, to the forensic medicine department."

5. BLOOD STAINED FLOOR / BODY BAGS / HOSPITAL STAFF

6. STAFF LOOKING AT BODY BAGS

7. BODY BAGS ON FLOOR

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Dari), MINISTRY OF INTERIOR AFFAIRS SPOKESPERSON, ABDUL MATEEN QANIE, SAYING:

"Regarding last night’s bombing by Pakistan’s military regime, all the world’s media can see that there was not even a single military person or any weapons present there. The entire target was civilian facilities and civilians. This was only a 1,000-bed treatment center for addicts, and apart from the patients and our medical team, no one else was there."

9. PEOPLE WAITING OUTSIDE HOSPITAL TO RECEIVE BODIES OF FAMILY MEMBERS

10. SIGN READING (Pashto, Dari) "ISLAMIC EMIRATE OF AFGHANISTAN, FORENSICS MEDICINE DEPARTMENT"