Overview
- The strike occurred around 9 p.m. local time on March 16 at the Omid drug treatment complex in Kabul, described by Afghan officials as a 1,000–2,000‑bed state facility where rescue teams battled fires and searched rubble.
- Taliban authorities report 200–400+ deaths and roughly 250–400 injuries and say much of the complex was destroyed, while journalists on scene described powerful blasts and flames; casualty figures remain unverified.
- Islamabad rejects hitting a hospital and says it targeted militant infrastructure in Kabul and Nangarhar, citing visible secondary explosions as evidence of munitions depots tied to Afghan and Pakistani Taliban.
- Kabul’s leadership says diplomacy with Pakistan is over and warns of military retaliation after weeks of cross‑border clashes that included artillery exchanges and a reported Taliban drone strike near Islamabad.
- EU officials and UN experts condemned civilian harm and urged de‑escalation and protection of medical sites, as China signaled it would keep trying to mediate between the neighbors.