KABUL, Afghanistan – Desperate families gathered at the ruins of a drug rehabilitation facility in Afghanistan’s capital Wednesday, frantically searching for relatives who may be among the hundreds of victims from a devastating Pakistani airstrike two days earlier.
According to Afghanistan’s Taliban government, the Monday night bombing killed more than 400 people and injured 265 others at the treatment center. The attack occurred while patients and staff members were engaged in prayer, just days before the conclusion of Ramadan.
Pakistani officials have disputed these casualty figures, stating they conducted “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure.” This dramatic escalation has deepened tensions between the two Islamic nations during a period of regional instability involving U.S.-Israeli military actions against Iran.
At the bombing site Wednesday, relatives of rehabilitation center patients searched desperately for information about their missing family members who had been receiving treatment at the facility.
Uncertainty plagued many families who remained unsure whether their loved ones survived, perished, or had been relocated to other locations.
“We came here looking for our patient, he is missing,” explained Mazar, a 50-year-old man who provided only his first name. “We came to find out whether he is well, alive, or what has happened to him.”
Mazar explained that his relative had been receiving treatment at the center for the second time, but no information was available about his whereabouts. “We checked the lists, but his name was not in the list of the living. Maybe he is injured or has been killed,” he stated.
RECOVERY EFFORTS CONTINUE
Another family member, who requested anonymity, described attempting to access the facility Tuesday but being denied entry.
“We did not find his body, nor was he among the wounded, and his name is not on the list of survivors,” the man said. “We have come again today for more information.”
A Reuters correspondent observed smoke continuing to rise from sections of the complex as firefighting crews worked to extinguish remaining blazes, approximately 36 hours following the bombing. Destroyed furniture, bedding, and personal belongings were scattered throughout the wreckage.
Afghanistan’s interior ministry announced that funeral services for some victims would be conducted later Wednesday.
“Some of the bodies were not identifiable and are currently at the forensic department. Some bodies were intact and were handed over to their families,” stated interior ministry spokesperson Abdul Mateen Qanie. “Others were completely destroyed, collected almost like pieces of flesh.”
Najibullah Farooqi, who leads Afghanistan’s legal medicine directorate, reported that recovery teams continued extracting bodies from the rubble as late as Tuesday evening, with remains being released to families after identification.
“Some bodies have been handed over after their identities were confirmed. However, a large number of bodies still remain with us,” Farooqi said.
CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS OF TARGET
The two nations have presented sharply different versions regarding what the airstrike was intended to hit.
Afghan officials maintain the attack deliberately struck a well-recognized rehabilitation facility, which had been converted from a former NATO military installation called Camp Phoenix approximately ten years ago.
Pakistani authorities acknowledge targeting Camp Phoenix but characterize it as a “military terrorist ammunition and equipment storage site,” pointing to secondary explosions visible after the strikes as evidence of substantial weapons stockpiles at the location.
The European Union, United Nations agencies, and international humanitarian organizations have condemned targeting civilian and medical facilities during conflicts and urged immediate de-escalation.
The dispute between these former allies began last year when Pakistan accused Afghanistan of providing sanctuary and support to militants conducting attacks on Pakistani soil, allegations the Afghan Taliban government has rejected.
While the conflict had diminished due to mediation efforts by friendly nations including China, tensions resurged last month when Pakistan began directly targeting Afghan Taliban positions rather than limiting strikes to Pakistani Taliban militant locations that Islamabad claims operate across the border.
