‘Collected Like Pieces Of Flesh’: Afghan Families Gather Remains Of Kin After Pakistan Airstrikes

Last Updated:March 18, 2026, 19:56 IST

Two days after Pakistan bombed a Kabul rehab centre, families searched for missing patients. Taliban accused Pakistan of violating airspace. Death toll: 400, injured: 250.

Two days after a rehab centre in Afghanistan Capital was bombed by Pakistan, the families and friends continued to search for those undergoing treatment continued on Wednesday.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid accused the Pakistani military of violating Afghan airspace and targeting a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul, killing several.

Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesperson of the Taliban government, said the death toll in the Pakistani attack stood at 400 while the number of injured has reached 250. Local television stations posted footage on social media showing security forces using flashlights as they carried out casualties while firefighters struggled to extinguish flames among the ruins of a building.

According to Reuters, relatives gathered at the site on Wednesday looking for their missing loved ones who were among the hundreds recovering there. ​

“We came here looking for our patient, he is missing," Reuters quoted 50-year-old Mazar, who gave only one name. “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.

Also Read: From Kabul Rehab Centre To Iran School: When Civilian Spaces Become War Zones

The Guardian quoted another man, who did not want to be named, saying that he had come in search of his relative on Tuesday but had not been 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."

The Afghan interior ministry said the funerals of those killed at the centre was held 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," said Abdul Mateen Qanie, a ministry spokesperson. “Others were completely destroyed, collected almost like pieces of flesh."

Also Read: Pakistan ‘Strikes’ Kabul Hospital: Will It Be Treated As War Crime? Explained

Najibullah Farooqi, the head of Afghanistan’s legal medicine directorate, said: “Some bodies have been handed over after their identities were confirmed. However, a large number of bodies still remain with us."

The Afghan authorities said the attack was on a well-known rehabilitation centre, a former NATO military base named Camp Phoenix that was converted into a civilian facility about a decade ago.

However, Pakistan denied the allegations, saying it ​had “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure". The Camp Phoenix was ‌a “military terrorist ⁠ammunition and equipment storage site," the government said, adding that secondary detonations visible after the strikes indicated presence of large ammunition depots.

“There are enough elements to confirm that this was a civilian facility that was hit," Reuters quoted Jacopo Caridi, country director for aid group Norwegian Refugee Council in Afghanistan, adding that military infrastructure may have been located nearby. “They might have missed the ​objective, but the result is that civilians ​were killed or injured."

The UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights for Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, has expressed concern over civilian casualties in the attack on the hospital. The International Human Rights Foundation has also condemned the attack, saying that public places such as hospitals should not be targeted.

The situation in Kabul has been tense as residents report continued aircraft activity over the city. The Pakistani military has struck Kabul several times in recent weeks, as part of a conflict sparked by claims that the Taliban government has harboured militant groups that have carried out attacks across the border.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of allowing militant groups — especially the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — to operate from Afghan territory and launch attacks in Pakistan. Kabul, on the other hand, has constantly denied the allegations. Earlier this week, Pakistan carried out a series of airstrikes across multiple Afghan locations, targeting what it said were militant positions.

News world ‘Collected Like Pieces Of Flesh’: Afghan Families Gather Remains Of Kin After Pakistan Airstrikes

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