In the heart of Kabul, a frantic rescue effort continues as emergency crews work tirelessly to extract bodies from the debris of a drug rehabilitation hospital. This grim scene follows an alleged overnight airstrike by Pakistan, which Afghan officials claim has resulted in the tragic loss of at least 400 lives at the facility.

Pakistan, however, has firmly refuted these allegations, maintaining that their military operations, which included strikes in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, did not target any civilian locations. This denial comes amid a backdrop of mounting tension and hostility between the two nations.

The airstrikes on Monday night represent a significant intensification of the ongoing conflict that erupted between Afghanistan and Pakistan late last month. This conflict has been marked by frequent cross-border skirmishes and aerial bombardments within Afghan territory. Despite international pleas for a ceasefire, the violence shows no signs of abating.

In a post shared late at night on X, Afghanistan’s deputy government spokesperson, Hamdullah Fitrat, detailed the devastation at the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital. The 2,000-bed facility in Kabul was reportedly struck around 9 p.m. local time, leading to the destruction of substantial parts of the hospital. Fitrat confirmed that the death toll had reached at least 400, with approximately 250 individuals injured. As of early Tuesday morning, there had been no official update on the number of casualties.

Local television broadcasts have shown harrowing footage on X, depicting security personnel using flashlights to navigate through the chaos as they transport the injured, while firefighters battle to douse flames engulfing the ruins.

This latest incident is a stark reminder of the volatile and perilous situation along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, as the specter of cross-border fire continues to loom large over the region.

The strike came hours after Afghan officials said the two sides exchanged fire along their common border, killing four people in Afghanistan, as the deadliest fighting between the neighbors in years entered a third week.

Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the strike on X, accusing Pakistan of “targeting hospitals and civilian sites to perpetrate horrors.” He said those killed were “innocent civilians and addicts.”

“We strongly condemn this crime and consider such an act to be against all accepted principles and a crime against humanity,” he said in a separate post on X.

Pakistan dismisses the allegations

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesperson, Mosharraf Zaidi, dismissed the allegations as baseless, saying no hospital was targeted in Kabul.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar posted on X in the early hours Tuesday 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.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said earlier that Mujahid’s claim was “false and misleading” and aimed at stirring sentiment and cover what it described as ”illegitimate support for cross-border terrorism.” It said Pakistan’s targeting was “precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted.”

UN calls on Afghanistan to combat militants

The strike came hours after the U.N. Security Council called on Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to immediately step up efforts to combat terrorism. Pakistan accuses Kabul of harboring militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, which it says carry out attacks inside Pakistan.

The Security Council resolution, adopted unanimously, didn’t refer specifically to attacks carried out in Pakistan but condemned “in the strongest terms all terrorist activity including terrorist attacks.”

Pakistan’s government accuses Afghanistan of providing safe haven to the Pakistani Taliban, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, as well as to outlawed Baloch separatist groups and other militants who frequently target Pakistani security forces and civilians across the country. Kabul denies the charge.

The latest conflict

The fighting — the most severe between the two neighbors — began in late February after Afghanistan launched cross-border attacks in response to Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan that Kabul said killed civilians. The clashes disrupted a ceasefire brokered by Qatar in October after earlier fighting killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants.

Pakistan has declared it is in “open war” with Afghanistan. The conflict has alarmed the international community, particularly as the area is one where other militant organizations, including al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, still have a presence and have been trying to resurface.

On Saturday, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said Afghanistan’s Taliban administration crossed a “red line” by deploying drones that injured several civilians in Pakistan last week.

___

Ahmed reported from Islamabad, and Becatoros from Athens, Greece. Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.