KABUL, Afghanistan — A second mass burial ceremony took place Thursday in a Kabul cemetery for dozens more victims of a devastating airstrike that destroyed a drug rehabilitation facility in Afghanistan’s capital earlier this month.
Heavy machinery carved out a massive grave site where individual burial plots were prepared for 60 coffins. According to Afghan authorities, hundreds lost their lives when Pakistani forces targeted the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital, a 2,000-bed facility, on March 16.
United Nations humanitarian officials continue working to confirm the exact number of casualties. Pakistani leadership maintains they did not intentionally strike civilian targets, claiming their forces hit a weapons storage facility instead.
The attack occurred during a period of intensifying hostilities between the neighboring countries that started in February, marked by repeated border skirmishes and aerial bombardments within Afghan territory, including multiple strikes in the capital city.
Pakistani officials claim Afghanistan shelters extremist groups responsible for terrorist activities on Pakistani soil, particularly the Pakistani Taliban movement. This organization operates independently from but maintains close ties with the Afghan Taliban, which took control of Afghanistan in 2021 as U.S.-led coalition forces withdrew. Afghan leadership rejects these allegations.
Last month, Pakistan officially announced it considers itself in “open war” with Afghanistan. This escalating conflict has drawn international concern, especially given the region’s continued presence of other terrorist organizations like al-Qaida and ISIS, which have been attempting to reestablish themselves.
Both nations agreed to a temporary ceasefire last week before the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Fitr, brokered through diplomatic efforts by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. However, the truce ended this week, and combat resumed Wednesday, with Afghan officials reporting at least two civilian deaths and multiple injuries in eastern provinces.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani Taliban — officially called Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP — announced they have restarted operations within Pakistan following their own three-day Eid ceasefire.
This Thursday ceremony marked the second large-scale funeral for the treatment center victims, following an earlier service for more than 50 people on March 18.
Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman announced Thursday that fatalities from the hospital strike have reached 411 people, after two injured patients died in medical care and rescue teams recovered another body from the debris in recent days. An additional 263 people sustained injuries, he reported.
The Omid facility had been expanded from an existing treatment center as part of the Taliban government’s campaign to address Afghanistan’s severe drug addiction crisis. The nation’s extensive poppy cultivation has supplied much of the global heroin trade, which combined with decades of warfare and widespread economic hardship has created a significant addiction problem that current leaders have pledged to eliminate.
Located near Kabul’s international airport, the hospital sits next to the former NATO military installation Camp Phoenix, where American forces previously trained Afghan National Army personnel.
The airstrike triggered a massive fire throughout the medical facility, and authorities report many victims’ remains were too severely damaged for identification.
