By Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Ariba Shahid and Asif Shahzad
KABUL, March 17 (Reuters) - More than 400 people were killed and 265 wounded in an airstrike by Pakistan on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul, a spokesman of the Afghan Taliban government said on Tuesday, a sharp escalation in the conflict between the neighbours.
Pakistan rejected the statement as false and misleading and said it had "precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure" on Monday night.
The airstrike came hours after China said it remained ready to continue efforts to ease tensions between the South Asian Islamic nations and urged both to avoid expanding the war and return to the negotiating table.
The conflict that began last month is the worst between the neighbours, who share a 2,600-km (1,600-mile) border.
DRUG REHAB CENTRE USED TO BE NATO TRAINING BASE
Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Taliban, said in a post on X the airstrike took place at 9 p.m. (1630 GMT) on Monday and targeted the state-run Omid Hospital, which he said was a 2,000-bed drug rehabilitation centre.
The Pakistani information ministry said Omid Hospital was miles away from Camp Phoenix, the "military terrorist ammunition and equipment storage site" that it said was targeted.
"The visible secondary detonations after the strikes clearly indicate the presence of large ammunition depots," Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a post on X.
Kabul residents, including a Reuters journalist, said Camp Phoenix, an abandoned NATO military base in the city, was converted into a drug treatment centre about a decade ago, and locals referred to it as Omid Camp, or "camp of hope", although its official name was "Ibn Sina Drug Addiction Treatment Hospital".
It was this centre that had been hit, they said, adding that Omid Hospital and Omid Camp were not related.
Fierce fighting between the former close allies erupted last month with Pakistani air strikes in Afghanistan that Islamabad said targeted militant strongholds.
Islamabad says Kabul provides a safe haven to militants launching attacks on Pakistan. The Taliban deny the allegation, saying tackling militancy is Pakistan's internal problem.
'IT WAS LIKE DOOMSDAY', SAYS A SURVIVOR
At the site of the airstrike, a blackened single-storey structure bore the marks of flames. In other places, buildings were reduced to heaps of wood and metal, with only a few bunk beds still intact in some, while blankets, personal belongings and bedding were strewn about.
Afghan Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qanie said 408 people were killed and 265 wounded. Afghan authorities said the dead and the wounded were taken to hospitals around Kabul but did not give details of how many bodies had been recovered and how the casualties had been counted.
Those killed were mostly civilians and addicts, added Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
Reuters could not verify the casualty numbers. Throughout the conflict, both sides have claimed to have inflicted heavy damage on the other but independent verification has not been possible.
The Norwegian Refugee Council, an independent aid group, said its staff had seen large numbers of casualties.
"We visited the hospital treating addicts in Kabul this morning and found hundreds of civilians dead and injured," it said in a statement. "Civilians and civilian infrastructure must never be targeted."
Witnesses said they heard three bombs exploding just as people in the centre were completing evening prayers, and that two of them struck rooms and patient areas.
"The whole place caught fire. It was like doomsday," said Ahmad, 50, who said he was under treatment at the facility and gave only his first name. "My friends were burning in the fire, and we could not save them all."
CHINA APPEALS FOR CALM, INDIA CONDEMNS STRIKE
The spokesman for Pakistan's prime minister called the Afghan reference to drug users being targeted "constant lies" and said Pakistan's "counterterrorism operations" would continue for as long as it took to eliminate "terrorists and their infrastructure".
China once again appealed for calm and restraint and also to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in the region.
“China … will continue to play a constructive role through its own channels to de-escalate tensions and improve relations between the two countries," said Lin Jian, a foreign ministry spokesman.
Pakistan's arch-rival India, which has recently forged close ties with the Afghan Taliban, said it unequivocally condemned the strike.
"That this attack was carried out during the holy month of Ramzan, a time of peace, reflection, and mercy among Muslim communities across the world, makes it all the more reprehensible,” the Indian foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
The conflict had ebbed amid efforts by friendly countries including China to mediate, but flared again just days before the Eid al-Fitr festival that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
(Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar in Kabul, Asif Shahzad in Islamabad and Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Additional reporting by Sayed Hassib in Kabul, Sakshi Dayal in New Delhi and Laurie Chen in Beijing; Writing by YP Rajesh; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Alex Richardson)
