WHO chief urges Afghanistan, Pakistan to prioritize peace after Kabul hospital attack

KABUL (Afghan Verified) — World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to reduce tensions and prioritize peace, saying the escalation has pressured health systems and affected at least six health centers since late February.

Ghebreyesus said WHO is verifying an attack on Kabul's Umid Addiction Treatment Hospital. He wrote on X: "Peace is the best medicine."

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported 74 civilians killed and 212 wounded in Afghanistan from Feb. 24 to just before March 16 due to conflicts between Kabul and Islamabad. UNAMA called for de-escalation, a permanent ceasefire and protection of health facilities, health workers, patients and ambulances under international law.

Afghanistan's Interior Ministry spokesperson Abdul Matin Qane said a Monday night Pakistani airstrike on the 2,000-bed Umid Hospital in Kabul's Pul-e-Charkhi area killed at least 400 people and wounded 250 others. Rescue efforts were ongoing Tuesday, with teams searching for bodies under rubble. Qane warned Pakistan's military regime would receive a "crushing response."

India's Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the airstrike as a "barbaric and unjustifiable" violation of Afghanistan's sovereignty that killed numerous civilians in a health facility during Ramadan. It called the attack a threat to regional stability and urged the international community to hold perpetrators accountable.

UNAMA's casualty figures for the period cover broader conflicts, while the hospital attack alone is reported to have caused higher numbers of deaths and injuries.