New Delhi: India Tuesday condemned Pakistan’s “barbaric air strike” on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, which left at least 400 people dead and over 250 injured, labelling the action “cowardly” and “unconscionable act of violence”. New Delhi has called on the international community to take action to hold the perpetrators of the air strike by Islamabad “accountable”.
“India unequivocally condemns Pakistan’s barbaric airstrike on the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul on the night of March 16. This is a cowardly and unconscionable act of violence that has claimed the lives of a large number of civilians in a facility which can by no means be justified as a military target. Pakistan is now trying to dress up a massacre as a military operation,” read a statement by Randhir Jaiswal, official spokesperson in India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
It added: “This heinous act of aggression by Pakistan is also a blatant assault on Afghanistan’s sovereignty and a direct threat to regional peace and stability. It reflects Pakistan’s persistent pattern of reckless behaviour and its repeated attempts to externalise internal failures through increasingly desperate acts of violence beyond its borders.”
The airstrike on the hospital in the Afghan capital late Monday evening left large parts of the civilian centre in ruins. The act is potentially the deadliest strike in the history of modern Afghanistan. It comes as Pakistan and Afghanistan have been in a state of conflict for almost three weeks.
Hours before the attack, both countries had acknowledged firing across their border that left at least four Afghan nationals dead. India further condemned the strike by Pakistan for being carried out in the “holy month of Ramzan”, which is meant to be a “time of peace, reflection and mercy” among the Muslim communities across the world.
“There is no faith, no law, and no morality that can justify the deliberate targeting of a hospital and its patients,” said Jaiswal, adding that India “extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved families, wishes a swift recovery to those injured, and stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan in this tragic moment”.
The official spokesperson further said, “We also reiterate our unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan.”
Pakistan has denied that it struck the hospital, asserting that its strikes were aimed at military installations that support the Taliban’s “terrorist infrastructure”.
Islamabad has accused the Taliban of harbouring terrorist organisations, including the Tehreek-I-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army, a claim rejected by Kabul.
Pakistan’s Minister of Information Attaullah Tarar in a statement said, “Technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage facilities at two locations in Kabul were effectively destroyed. The visible secondary detonations after the strikes clearly indicate the presence of large ammunition depots.”
The Taliban has asserted that Pakistan is attempting to blame its own failures to maintain domestic security on third countries. The attack also came the same day that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Taliban to take greater measures to combat terrorism, while extending the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) by three months till 17 June.
India has been consistent in condemning Pakistan’s attacks on civilian infrastructure in Afghanistan since at least December 2024. The Taliban has sought to improve ties with India. Both countries elevated their respective diplomatic missions to the status of an embassy in October 2025. A number of senior Taliban leaders, including Acting Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, had visited New Delhi in the second half of 2025.