KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local sources have reported hearing explosions and gunfire in several areas of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan and Nangarhar, late Monday night.
According to the sources, the sounds of explosions and shooting were heard in areas including Darulaman, Arzan Qemat, Khair Khana, and near Kabul International Airport.
Some sources also reported that a Taliban military facility in the Maranjan Hill area of Kabul may have been targeted in the attacks.
Sources further said that unmanned aerial vehicles were seen patrolling the skies over Kabul during the incident.
Videos obtained by the newspaper KabulNow also capture the sound of gunfire and what appear to be drones flying over parts of the city.
Meanwhile, local sources in Nangarhar province say that Pakistan has carried out multiple strikes in the province.
According to the sources, the targets included Jalalabad Airport in the city of Jalalabad, as well as locations in the districts of Achin, Khogyani, and Shinwari.
Local Taliban officials in Nangarhar have not yet commented on the reported attacks.
Taliban officials claim that a drug rehabilitation hospital in the capital was hit in the attack, leaving several patients undergoing treatment killed and wounded.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief spokesperson, said that Pakistan carried out another attack on Afghan territory on Monday night (March 16).
In a post on X, Mujahid said that Pakistan struck a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul. “The Pakistani military regime has once again violated Afghanistan’s airspace and targeted a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, resulting in the death and injury of addicts who were undergoing treatment. We strongly condemn this crime and consider such an act to be against all accepted principles and a crime against humanity,” he said.
However, he did not provide a specific number of casualties.
Local sources further said that drones were seen patrolling the skies over the city during the incident.
Pakistan had also carried out airstrikes in Kabul on Thursday night last week.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that at least four civilians were killed and 14 others — including women and children — were injured in an attack in Kabul’s District 21. The UN mission added that clashes which began in late February have led to significant civilian casualties across Afghanistan, with at least 75 civilians killed and 193 others wounded nationwide since then, the majority of them women and children.
The continuing violence and cross-border tensions have raised concerns among regional governments and international organizations about further instability along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Calls from regional countries and humanitarian groups for restraint and dialogue between the two sides have so far failed to halt the hostilities.
