KABUL — An airstrike hit the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul on March 17, 2026, killing over 400 people according to Afghan officials. The strike occurred at about 9 p.m. local time and destroyed large sections of the drug rehabilitation facility.

"The airstrike hit the Omid hospital at about 9 p.m. local time and that large sections of the facility had been destroyed," said Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy government spokesperson. Abdul Mateen Qani, Interior Ministry spokesman, said that 408 people had been killed and 265 injured in the airstrike.

Rescuers recovered bodies from the rubble on March 17, 2026, while casualties were taken to several hospitals in the area. Crowds gathered at the hospitals to search for their loved ones among the injured and the dead. Local television footage showed security forces using flashlights as they carried casualties from the site and firefighters struggling to extinguish flames at the hospital.

Pakistan's Information Ministry said the Pakistani military had precisely targeted Camp Phoenix, which it described as a military terrorist ammunition and equipment storage site. The ministry said that the hospital was multiple kilometers away from Camp Phoenix and accused Afghan officials of lying. "Another important question also lingers, as to why would an alleged drug rehabilitation facility be colocated with lethal ammunition storage site in a military camp? This also remains unanswered," Pakistan's Information Ministry wrote.

The Omid hospital is a 2,000-bed facility located near Kabul's international airport and adjacent to the former Camp Phoenix military base. The hospital was renamed and expanded roughly a year ago from the Ibn Sina Drug Addiction Treatment Hospital as part of government plans to address drug addiction. A reporter for the Associated Press near the strike site heard a military jet fly overhead followed by a powerful explosion. It was not possible to independently confirm the reported death toll.

The airstrike occurred during a three-week conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan that has included repeated cross-border clashes and airstrikes inside Afghanistan despite international calls for a ceasefire. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of providing a safe haven for militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan, while the Afghan government denies providing such a safe haven. The Afghan Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021 following the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops.