The Pakistani military rejected Amnesty International’s report on an air strike on a treatment centre in Kabul that killed civilians, accusing the Taliban of using hospitals and medical facilities as blind spots for terrorist activity.
The Pakistani military on Thursday, 23 July, described Amnesty International’s report as baseless.
Amnesty International said on Wednesday that a Pakistani air strike on the Omid Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre in Kabul on 16 March 2026, which killed at least 269 civilians, should be investigated as a possible war crime.
The organisation said it had found no evidence supporting the Pakistani military’s claim that the centre was being used to store weapons, ammunition or for other military purposes.
Pakistan Rejects Amnesty’s Findings and Questions UNAMA’s Access
The Pakistani military questioned the credibility of investigations conducted by Amnesty International and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
It said claims that a 2,000-bed facility containing more than 4,000 patients, attendants and staff had been struck were inconsistent with conditions on the ground.
The military told Afghanistan International that if an incident of such scale and with such a high casualty toll had taken place, hundreds of videos and images should have emerged from patients and residents using mobile phones or CCTV cameras.
It said the absence of even a single piece of footage or image from the site was the strongest evidence against Amnesty International’s account.
The military also argued that Amnesty International’s review of only 60 photographs and 11 interviews was statistically unreliable for a facility of that size.
It further said Amnesty International’s report relied on UNAMA findings, while claiming that UNAMA’s work had been severely restricted by Taliban-imposed limitations.
Pakistan Accuses Amnesty’s South Asia Office of Indian Influence
The Pakistani military described Isabelle Lassee’s role as acting deputy regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International as a deceptive manoeuvre and alleged that the office was effectively led by Smriti Singh, an Indian national.
Amnesty International has not responded to the allegation.
The Pakistani military alleged that Singh had previously worked with media linked to Indian intelligence and, because of what it described as ties to networks connected to India’s Defence Ministry, used Lassee’s name to publish a commissioned report against Pakistan.
Pakistan accused staff at Amnesty International’s South Asia office of favouring the Indian government’s narrative and said the organisation was whitewashing Taliban bias and crimes.
Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty International’s Acting Regional Director for South Asia, said in a statement that Pakistan’s attack on the treatment facility in Kabul constituted a serious violation of international humanitarian law and called on Pakistan to carry out a transparent, independent and impartial investigation and make the findings public.
She said: “The attack on the Omid Centre constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law – possibly amounting to a war crime”. She added that because the site had been known as a medical facility for more than a decade, the strike pointed to a serious failure in Pakistan’s military planning that resulted in significant civilian deaths.
Pakistan Foreign Ministry Responds
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said at a press briefing on Thursday, 23 July, that no responsible state can remain indifferent to the continued targeting of its civilians and security forces.
Andrabi said all Pakistani military operations carried out in self-defence had been based on necessity and used only as a last resort.
He said the strikes had been directed solely and exclusively at terrorists and their support bases inside Afghanistan.
The spokesman said Pakistan’s response had been proportionate to the level of threat and that the principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality had been carefully observed.
Andrabi urged Amnesty International and the international community to focus their scrutiny on what he described as the Taliban regime’s continued support for terrorist groups.
He said Islamabad wanted the international community to hold the Taliban accountable for failing to meet its obligations under relevant UN Security Council resolutions, the Doha Agreement and other commitments to prevent Afghan territory from being used as a base for terrorism.
He added that Pakistan reserved the right to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the security and safety of its citizens.
