Kabul, March 17 – Abdul Matin Qane, spokesperson for Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior, warned on Tuesday that the country would respond "with force" to the airstrikes carried out by Pakistan in Kabul, according to local media.
Afghan officials stated that the strikes targeted the 2,000-bed Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul's Pul-e-Charkhi area, resulting in at least 400 deaths and 250 injuries. Qane said that recovery efforts were underway, as emergency teams were searching for bodies under the rubble, Ariana News, based in Afghanistan, reported.
Qane stated that Afghanistan considers Pakistan's latest strikes as a major escalation and warned of a response. He said, "Such attacks cannot go unanswered," reiterating that Afghan authorities consider the incident a violation of Afghanistan's sovereignty, Ariana News reported.
The incident marks a sharp escalation in tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent weeks due to airstrikes, artillery fire, and accusations from both sides.
Afghan authorities have condemned what they term Pakistan's military operations in Afghanistan, particularly in the eastern and southeastern provinces.
In recent weeks, Afghan officials have stated that strikes and shelling incidents have caused casualties and damage to infrastructure. Meanwhile, Islamabad has claimed that it is targeting militant groups that are using Afghan soil to launch attacks in Pakistan.
Earlier on March 14, deputy spokesman of the Afghan government, Hamdullah Fitrat, said that Pakistani airstrikes claimed four lives and injured 25 others in the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday morning.
The official stated that Pakistan, apart from Kabul, also conducted air raids on Kandahar, Paktika, Khost and Nangarhar provinces on Thursday night and Friday. An oil depot in Kandahar was targeted, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The current round of hostilities began when Taliban-led Afghan forces launched retaliatory operations against Pakistani military installations on February 27, following Pakistan's actions targeting militants inside Afghan territory on February 21.
Following Afghanistan's attacks, Pakistan launched "Operation Ghazab lil-Haq" (Righteous Fury) in response to what it described as "unprovoked firing" by the Afghan forces across multiple border sectors.
