Afghanistan accused Pakistan of conducting an airstrike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul on Monday night, claiming the attack killed at least 400 people and injured approximately 250 others. The incident marks a significant escalation in cross-border fighting between the two countries that began in late February.

Afghan deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the strike hit the hospital at approximately 9 p.m. local time, destroying large sections of the 2,000-bed facility. Television footage showed security forces using flashlights to carry casualties while firefighters worked to extinguish flames among building ruins. Afghan officials described the victims as patients receiving treatment at the facility.

Pakistan dismissed the allegations as false, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's spokesman saying no hospital was targeted. Pakistan's Ministry of Information said its strikes targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure, including equipment and ammunition storage facilities used by Afghan Taliban forces and Afghanistan-based Pakistani militants. The ministry emphasized that targeting was precise and designed to avoid collateral damage.

The strike occurred hours after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to increase efforts to combat terrorism. Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of harboring militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, which Pakistan says conducts attacks inside its territory. Afghanistan denies providing safe haven to these groups.

The current conflict began after Afghanistan launched cross-border attacks in response to Pakistani airstrikes that Kabul said killed civilians. The fighting disrupted a Qatar-brokered ceasefire from October and represents the most severe military confrontation between the neighboring countries in years. Pakistan has declared it is in "open war" with Afghanistan, while Afghan officials have stated that defending sovereignty is every citizen's duty.