An NGO confirms hundreds were killed and wounded in a Pakistani air strike on a Kabul drug treatment clinic, contradicting Islamabad’s claims of targeting militant infrastructure.

KABUL: The Norwegian Refugee Council has confirmed that hundreds of people were killed and wounded in a Pakistani air strike on a drug treatment clinic in the Afghan capital this week.

NRC country director Jacopo Caridi told AFP that the NGO had teams assisting in the rescue effort immediately after the strikes on Monday.

He described the scene at the medical facility, where one building was completely burned and destroyed, as “shocking” and horrific.

Caridi said rescue teams were still trying to remove bodies from the rubble and access parts of the compound where walls had collapsed.

He indicated that identification of the victims was difficult, with body parts scattered in the debris.

The Taliban authorities had earlier stated that around 400 people were killed at the clinic, with more than 200 wounded.

Pakistan’s forces struck Kabul and the eastern border province of Nangarhar, claiming to have hit military installations and “terrorist support infrastructure”.

Islamabad has dismissed the Taliban government’s claims that the clinic was targeted as “entirely baseless”.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harbouring militants who have attacked its territory.

Immediate independent confirmation of exact tolls remains difficult in Afghanistan, where attacks often occur in hard-to-reach places.

 The Sun Malaysia