KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – India has delivered 2.5 tons of emergency medicines, medical disposables, kits and equipment to Kabul to support the treatment of people wounded in deadly Pakistani airstrikes on a drug rehabilitation hospital, officials said.
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said in a post on X that the shipment arrived in Kabul on Friday, adding that India stands in solidarity with the Afghan people and will continue to provide all possible humanitarian support during this difficult time.
The aid comes in the aftermath of Pakistani airstrikes on March 16 that targeted Omid Addiction Rehabilitation Hospital in Kabul, one of the deadliest escalations in tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent months. The Taliban said the strikes caused massive civilian casualties and widespread destruction at the facility. Most of the victims were addicts receiving treatment at the center.
Reuters, citing a United Nations official, reported that at least 143 people were killed and dozens were injured. The Taliban, however, claimed that at least 400 people died and 250 others were wounded. Pakistan denied targeting the hospital, saying its airstrikes were aimed at militant-linked facilities and hideouts.
India earlier condemned the strikes, calling them “yet another act of aggression by a Pakistani establishment that remains hostile to the idea of a sovereign Afghanistan.”
The UN, including Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and several rights groups have called for an independent investigation into the incident and accountability for those responsible.
The shipment is part of a series of Indian medical aid deliveries to Afghanistan in recent months, including supplies of anti-cancer medicines and vaccines such as influenza and meningitis doses.
