Islamuddin Sajid
17 March 2026•Update: 17 March 2026
ISLAMABAD
Pakistan said Tuesday that it carried out precision airstrikes overnight targeting Afghan military installations in the capital Kabul and eastern Nangarhar province, rejecting a claim by Afghanistan that a drug rehabilitation facility was hit.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes destroyed technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage facilities at two locations in Kabul.
“The visible secondary detonations after the strikes clearly indicate the presence of large ammunition depots,” Tarar wrote on the US social media company X’s platform, sharing a video clip along with his post.
“In Nangarhar, Pakistan’s armed forces also struck four Afghan Taliban military sites used to support terrorism, destroying associated logistics, ammunition and technical infrastructure,” he added.
Tarar said all targets were selected with precision and limited to infrastructure allegedly used by Afghan authorities to support militants operating against Pakistan.
He rejected a claim by the Afghan administration that a drug rehabilitation facility had been struck, calling it “false” and accusing the group of spreading propaganda to deflect from its alleged role in supporting militancy in the region.
Earlier, Afghan Deputy Spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said at least 400 people were killed and around 250 injured in what he described as a Pakistani airstrike on a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul on Monday.
He said large sections of the facility were destroyed and warned of a potentially higher death toll.
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have worsened after border tensions escalated last month, causing casualties and property damage.
Since late February, cross-border clashes have killed 107 people on the two sides, including 13 soldiers and five civilians in Pakistan, with one soldier still missing.
According to Kabul, 13 soldiers and 76 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan. The figure does not include fresh casualties claimed by Afghan authorities on Monday.
According to UN data, 185 civilian casualties, including 56 deaths from indirect fire and aerial attacks, were reported in Afghanistan between Feb. 26 and March 5.
