Families and friends desperately searched for their loved ones on Wednesday, two days after a rehabilitation centre in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, was bombed by Pakistan. The attack, described as the deadliest incident in the months-long conflict between the neighbours, has left hundreds feared dead or injured.
The Afghan Taliban government claims more than 400 people were killed and 265 wounded in the air strike, which occurred on Monday night as patients and staff at the centre were praying, just days before the end of Ramadan. Pakistan, however, rejected these figures, stating it had “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure”.
This sharp escalation has further strained relations between the Islamic nations, at a time when the wider region is also grappling with instability following US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Relatives gathered at the site of the drug rehabilitation centre on Wednesday, seeking any news of those recovering there, many expressing uncertainty over whether their family members were alive, dead, or had been moved.
“We came here looking for our patient, he is missing,” said Mazar, 50, who gave only one name. “We came to find out whether he is well, alive, or what has happened to him.”
The relative, Mazar said, had been admitted at the centre for the second time and there was no information about him. “We checked the lists, but his name was not in the list of the living. Maybe he is injured or has been killed,” he said.
Another man who did not want to be named said he had come in search of his relative on Tuesday but was not allowed to enter the centre.
“We did not find his body, nor was he among the wounded, and his name is not on the list of survivors,” he said. “We have come again today for more information.”
A Reuters witness at the scene saw smoke still smouldering from parts of the compound as firefighters continued to douse small fires, about 36 hours after the bombing. Pieces of furniture, mattresses and clothing lay scattered among the debris.
The Afghan interior ministry said funerals of some those killed at the centre would take place later on 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,” interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qanie said. “Others were completely destroyed, collected almost like pieces of flesh.”
Najibullah Farooqi, head of Afghanistan’s legal medicine directorate, said bodies were being pulled out of the debris as late as Tuesday night and were being handed over to families.
“Some bodies have been handed over after their identities were confirmed. However, a large number of bodies still remain with us,” he said.
Afghanistan and Pakistan have fiercely contested and disputed the target of the air strike.
Afghan authorities said the attack had clearly targeted a well-known rehabilitation centre, a former NATO military base named Camp Phoenix that had been converted into a civilian facility about a decade ago.
Pakistan has said it hit Camp Phoenix, a “military terrorist ammunition and equipment storage site” and that secondary detonations that were visible after the strikes clearly indicated the presence of large ammunition depots there.
The EU, UN agencies and international aid groups have said civilian and medical facilities should not be targeted during a conflict and called for immediate de-escalation.
The conflict between the allies turned foes began last year after Pakistan accused Afghanistan of sheltering and backing militants carrying out attacks across Pakistan, a charge denied by the Afghan Taliban government.
The conflict had ebbed amid efforts by friendly countries including China to mediate, but flared again with Pakistan directly targeting the Afghan Taliban last month and not just locations of Pakistani Taliban militants Islamabad says are across the border.
