Minister of Information, Attaullah Tarar. Photo: Archive
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Tuesday strongly rejected claims by the Afghan Taliban that its recent airstrikes targeted a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, calling the allegations “completely baseless” and part of a broader pattern of disinformation aimed at distorting facts.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the attacks carried out on the night of March 16 under Operation Ghazab Lil Haq were “precise, deliberate and professional”, and targeted only military and terrorist infrastructure linked to attacks inside Pakistan.
“No hospital, drug rehabilitation center or civilian facility has been attacked,” the minister said, adding that ammunition depots, logistics centers and technical facilities were attacked in Kabul and Nangarhar.
According to the Ministry of Information, images of the six attacks were released showing secondary explosions confirming the presence of munitions at the target locations. Authorities said the images “leave no doubt” about the nature of the affected facilities.
On Tuesday, Taliban regime deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat claimed in a post on X that an airstrike had hit the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital, killing up to 400 people in the Afghan capital overnight.
In response, the Ministry of Information issued a detailed fact check, noting that an initial claim posted by an Afghan official on social media alleging an attack on a rehabilitation center was later deleted.
“If the claim was true, why was it removed?” officials questioned, suggesting that the material may not have stood up to scrutiny and could even have involved content generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
Further undermining the Taliban narrative, the ministry said that an image circulating as evidence of mass casualties was actually from May 2023 and had previously been shared by the Taliban regime’s own Interior Ministry.
The reuse of outdated images to support current claims, officials said, reflected a “deliberate attempt to mislead the public and create confusion.”
The ministry further stated that the facility was located several kilometers from Camp Phoenix, the actual site of the attack, and highlighted clear structural differences between the hospital and the affected facilities.
A report from Afghanistan International further complicated the Taliban’s version, indicating that the attack had targeted a military site near Camp Phoenix, while a fire in a nearby building was later presented as an attack on a hospital.
A video cited in the report quotes an individual saying the impact site was about 200 meters from the alleged clinic. Tarar said such claims were consistent with “false narratives, manipulated material, selective deletions and recycled images” used to obscure the facts.
“His latest accusation is part of the same tired pattern of deception,” he said. He maintained that Pakistan’s actions were aimed at countering terrorism emanating from Afghan territory, warning that the threat had become more serious, with vulnerable individuals, including drug addicts and children, being exploited for militant purposes.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif also attacked the Taliban leaders, accusing them of hypocrisy and ingratitude. In a strongly worded message in Urdu, he said the allegations came from “those who orchestrate attacks on mosques, attack civilians and shed the blood of innocent children”, adding that Pakistan had harbored them for decades at great cost.
“They [Taliban] They do not respect the agreements they make and demand ransoms to fulfill commitments worth billions of rupees. The soil of Pakistan not only gave them shelter; stood up to a superpower for their own sake,” Asif wrote.
“[We] He extended hospitality to three generations. We have made many mistakes in our 78-year history, but your hospitality is the most fatal mistake of all. May Allah forgive us, Amin,” added the minister.
More Taliban posts destroyed
On Tuesday, Pakistani forces carried out a series of coordinated operations against the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khwarij under Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, targeting facilities along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border as well as sites inside Afghanistan.
According to security sources, the forces carried out successful operations in the Khyber sector and in North and South Waziristan, destroying several posts of the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khwarij using anti-tank guided missiles and inflicting heavy losses on the militants.
Forces also destroyed the Taliban’s Jhanda post in North Waziristan, along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, as part of the ongoing campaign aimed at dismantling militant infrastructure. Authorities said the operation would continue until its stated objectives were achieved.
Tarar said Pakistan would continue to take “all necessary measures” to defend its citizens, dismantle terrorist networks and deny safe havens to those launching attacks from across the border, dismissing the Taliban’s claims as “false and misleading” propaganda.
(WITH INPUT FROM THE APP)
