Minister of Information, Attaullah Tarar. Photo: File
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Tuesday forcefully rejected claims by the Afghan Taliban that their recent airstrikes targeted a drug treatment hospital in Kabul, calling the claims “completely baseless” and part of a broader pattern of misinformation aimed at distorting facts.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes carried out on the night of March 16 as part of Operation Ghazab Lil Haq were “precise, deliberate and professional”, targeting only military and terrorist infrastructure linked to attacks inside Pakistan.
“No hospitals, no detoxification centers and no civilian installations were targeted,” the minister said, adding that ammunition depots, logistics platforms and technical installations were hit in Kabul and Nangarhar.
According to the Ministry of Information, images of the six strikes were released, showing secondary explosions confirming the presence of munitions at the targeted sites. Officials said the visuals “leave no doubt” about the nature of the affected facilities.
On Tuesday, the Taliban regime’s deputy spokesperson, Hamdullah Fitrat, claimed in a message on X that an airstrike hit the Omid drug treatment hospital, killing up to 400 people in the Afghan capital overnight.
In response, the Information Ministry released a detailed fact check, noting that an initial claim posted by an Afghan official on social media, alleging a strike on a rehabilitation center, was later removed.
“If this statement was accurate, why was it removed? officials questioned, suggesting the material may not have stood up to scrutiny and might even have involved artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content.
Further undermining the Taliban’s narrative, the ministry said an image circulated as proof of mass casualties was actually from May 2023 and had already been shared by the Taliban regime’s own interior ministry.
Reusing outdated visuals to support current claims, officials said, reflected a “deliberate attempt to mislead the public and create confusion.”
The department further stated that the facility was located several miles from Camp Phoenix, the actual site targeted, and pointed to obvious structural differences between the hospital and the affected facilities.
A report from Afghanistan International further complicated the Taliban’s version, saying the strike had targeted a military site near Camp Phoenix, while a fire in a nearby building was later described as a hospital attack.
A video cited in the report quoted an individual saying the impact site was approximately 200 meters from the purported clinic. Tarar said such claims were consistent with “false narratives, falsified material, selective deletions and recycled visuals” used to obscure the facts.
“Their latest allegations fall into the same tired pattern of deception,” he said. He said 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 Taliban leaders, accusing them of hypocrisy and ingratitude. In a strong message in Urdu, he said the allegations came from “those who orchestrate attacks on mosques, target civilians and shed the blood of innocent children”, adding that Pakistan has harbored them for decades at great cost.
“They [Taliban] do not honor the agreements they make and demand ransom to fulfill commitments worth billions of rupees. The soil of Pakistan not only offered them refuge; he stood up to a superpower for them,” Asif wrote.
“[We] hospitality extended to three generations. We have made many mistakes in our 78-year history, but their hospitality is the most fatal mistake of all. May Allah forgive us, Ameen,” the minister added.
New Taliban posts destroyed
On Tuesday, Pakistani forces carried out a series of coordinated operations against the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khwarij as part of Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, targeting installations along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border as well as sites inside Afghanistan.
According to security sources, the forces successfully carried out operations in Khyber sector and 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 post at Jhanda in North Waziristan, along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, as part of the ongoing campaign to dismantle the militants’ infrastructure. Officials said the operation would continue until the stated objectives were achieved.
Tarar said Pakistan would continue to take “all necessary measures” to defend its citizens, dismantle terrorist networks and deny safe haven to those who launch attacks across the border, dismissing the Taliban’s claims as “false and misleading” propaganda.
(WITH INPUT FROM THE APPLICATION)
