UN Confirms Pakistan Strike Killed 269 at Kabul Rehab Center, Fueling War Crime Calls
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 12
UN Confirms Pakistan Strike Killed 269 at Kabul Rehab Center, Fueling War Crime Calls
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 12
At least 269 Afghans were killed in Pakistan’s 16 March airstrike on Kabul’s Omid drug rehabilitation hospital, the UN said, adding the true toll is likely higher.
Three bombs hit patient housing, staff offices and vocational areas, triggering a large fire; the UN said shrapnel wounds and burns were the main causes of death, with many bodies dismembered or unidentifiable.
Pakistan denied targeting a hospital and said it struck military and terrorist infrastructure, while families, hospital staff and the UN said the site was a well-known civilian treatment center opened in 2016.
Human Rights Watch called the attack unlawful and a possible war crime, and the Taliban government urged an international investigation as the strike became the deadliest known attack in Afghanistan in recent years.
The mass-casualty strike has deepened a months-long Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict driven by Islamabad’s militant sanctuary accusations, while shattering Kabul’s sense of relative calm since 2021.
Pakistan claims the hospital was a terror hub. What evidence could possibly prove this and avert war crime charges?
With militants using advanced US arms, is Pakistan's deadly airstrike a sign its long war on terror is failing?
As China mediates peace, how is India's growing influence with the Taliban secretly reshaping the Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict?
Mass Casualty at Omid Hospital: 140+ Dead in Kabul Airstrike and the Crisis of Civilian Protection in Afghanistan-Pakistan Tensions
Overview
On March 16, 2026, Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul was struck by at least three powerful explosions, causing widespread destruction and a mass casualty event. The blasts were so intense that staff were thrown across rooms, and fires quickly spread throughout the hospital, creating chaos and panic. The attack resulted in extensive physical damage, with buildings reduced to rubble and personal belongings scattered among the debris. This tragedy drew immediate international concern about the safety of civilian spaces during conflict, highlighting the urgent need to protect hospitals and vulnerable populations in war zones.