- Taliban spokesperson called Pakistan's airstrike on Kabul hospital a "crime against humanity"
- "I think it will be responded to in their language," Suhail Shaheen told NDTV
- At least 400 people were killed and 250 injured in the strike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul
The Afghan Taliban government's spokesperson, Suhail Shaheen, on Tuesday said that Pakistan's deadly airstrike on a Kabul hospital was a "crime against humanity" and warned the neighbour that they would get a "response in their language".
Speaking to NDTV, Shaheen, who is the acting ambassador to Qatar, which brokered the peace between the two countries last October, confirmed that at least 400 people were killed and about 250 injured in the strike on a 2,000-bed drug users rehabilitation hospital in Kabul on Monday night.
A drug users rehabilitation hospital in Kabul destroyed in a Pakistani airstrike
Photo Credit: REUTERS
"At 9 PM, the Pakistani Air Force carried out an air strike on the hospital, killing more than 400 patients and injuring 250 others. It was a very brutal attack and a crime against humanity," he said.
"The families of those killed came to the hospital crying and asking for their relatives," he said.
Shaheen said the Pakistani military is conducting strikes under the "baseless claim" of targeting the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Islamabad claims carries out attacks in Pakistan.
He also denied any back-channel negotiations with the Pakistani government.
"Right now, there are no back-channel talks. They have chosen the military approach, while we always wanted a peaceful solution to issues. They chose to attack Afghanistan first. So, I think it will be responded to in their language," Shaheen said.
Video Shows Explosion After Pak Airstrike On Kabul Hospital
A video has surfaced showing a large explosion after the Pakistani airstrike hit the state-run Omid hospital, which was established in 2016 and has treated hundreds of people.
The video, which has gone viral on X, showed flames and huge columns of smoke rising over the hospital.
Another video showed security forces using flashlights to carry out bodies and firefighters struggling to put out flames.
NDTV cannot independently verify the authenticity of these videos.
Pak Denies Kabul Hospital Strike
Pakistan rejected Afghanistan's claim and said it "precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure" on Monday night.
Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that the Pakistani military had "carried out precision airstrikes" targeting military installations in Kabul and the eastern province of Nangarhar.
He said "technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage facilities" at two locations in Kabul were destroyed.
"All targeting has been done with precision only at those infrastructures which are being used by Afghan Taliban regime to support its multiple terror proxies," he wrote on X.
The latest strikes mark the most serious escalation between Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent months, threatening a fragile ceasefire along the 2,600-km border.
The airstrike also came at a time when a war has erupted in Iran, which shares the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The war in Iran broke out when the US and Israel launched strikes on Tehran, killing 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
