Pakistan conducts airstrikes on Taliban targets in Kabul and Nangarhar; Taliban claims 400 killed at rehab center

Pakistan carried out airstrikes on nine Taliban targets in Kabul and Nangarhar provinces, including drone factories and intelligence sites, Pakistan Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said, describing the operation as precise and targeting terrorist support facilities and infrastructure.

Taliban deputy spokesman Hamidullah Fitrat stated that the strikes hit the Umid Camp addicts' rehabilitation center in east Kabul, killing 400 people and wounding 250. Local residents reported to Afghanistan International that a Taliban drone manufacturing factory and the Intelligence Directorate of the Taliban Ministry of Defense were located next to the rehabilitation center.

Afghanistan International's findings indicated that the site housed both the rehab center and a suicide drone factory, suggesting the Taliban may have used the facility as a human shield. Pakistan has not released casualty figures, while the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has not provided independent verification.

Separately, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that Afghan women and girls have been systematically eliminated from public life due to Taliban bans on their education, employment, and public activities. He praised Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai for her advocacy on behalf of Afghan women and girls.

In a UN Security Council session extending the UNAMA mandate, Pakistani official Jadoon said elements within the Taliban regime are cooperating with or providing a conducive environment for groups including Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Balochistan Liberation Army, ISIS-Khorasan, Al-Qaeda, and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which conduct cross-border attacks with impunity. Human rights organizations have described the Taliban's restrictions on women as 'gender apartheid.'