Pakistan rejects Taliban claim of hospital strike in Kabul, calls it 'misinformation'

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting rejected on Tuesday the Afghan Taliban's claim that a hospital in Kabul had been targeted in a recent strike, describing the allegation as misleading and unsupported by available evidence.

The Afghan authorities said about 400 people were killed in a Pakistani airstrike on a drug rehabilitation center in the capital, Kabul, in what they described as the deadliest incident in the latest bout of violence between the two neighbors.

In a fact-check statement, Pakistani authorities said the facility identified in a Taliban social media post as 'Omid Hospital' is located several kilometers away from Camp Phoenix, the area where the strike reportedly took place overnight.

According to the ministry, the site that was struck was located near Camp Phoenix and was allegedly being used to store military-grade weapons and equipment linked to militant activity. Officials said the target was associated with militant infrastructure rather than a medical facility.

The ministry added that visual comparisons show clear differences between the two locations. Images of Omid Hospital depict a multi-story building, while the site near Camp Phoenix that was reportedly hit consists of structures associated with military or militant logistics.

Pakistani officials also questioned the narrative circulated by Afghan authorities, asking why a facility described as a drug rehabilitation center would be located close to a site allegedly used to store lethal ammunition and military supplies inside or near a military compound.

The statement also pointed to the removal of the original claim by an official Afghan Taliban social media account. The now-deleted post had initially said a “drug rehabilitation center” had been struck in the incident.

Pakistani officials said the deletion raised further questions about the credibility of the claim and asked whether the circulated footage may have been artificially generated or manipulated, possibly using AI tools, and therefore unable to withstand multiple fact-checks circulating online.

The ministry said the removal of the original post suggests the Afghan Taliban may be stepping back from what Pakistan described as a fabricated narrative surrounding the incident.