Rescue teams have recovered more bodies from the demolished Kabul drug rehabilitation hospital following an overnight air strike that claimed more than 400 lives, according to officials. The attack marked a dramatic intensification in the conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has intensified in the last three weeks.

Pakistan rejected Afghanistan’s claims about the hospital strike, insisting its Monday operations in eastern Afghanistan targeted only military installations. Pakistani officials dismissed the reported death count as propaganda.

The injured and deceased were taken to multiple local hospitals, where crowds of people searched desperately for family members. Independent confirmation of casualty figures remains impossible.

The conflict has escalated through repeated border skirmishes and air strikes within Afghanistan, despite international calls for a ceasefire.

This latest attack came just hours after Afghan officials reported border clashes that killed four people in Afghanistan.

The conflict stems from an enduring and contentious dispute over the Pakistan Taliban (TTP), an armed group that Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of sheltering.

Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the strike, claiming Pakistan was “targeting hospitals and civilian sites to perpetrate horrors.” He emphasised that those killed were “innocent civilians and addicts.”

“We strongly condemn this crime and consider such an act to be against all accepted principles and a crime against humanity,” he said in a separate post on X.

Rescue worker Allah Mohammad Farooq reported hundreds killed.

“When we arrived here, everyone was buried under the rubble,” he said. “We then used a crane to pull them out. Most of the people were dead, and many are still trapped under the debris.”

Near the attack site, Haji Najibullah wept while explaining that his son and relatives were receiving treatment at the hospital.

“We have no information about who is alive and who is buried under the rubble,” he said. “Only God knows who may have survived and who may be injured.”

Richard Bennet, a UN human rights expert in Afghanistan, wrote on X that he was “dismayed by fresh reports of #Pakistan airstrikes in #Afghanistan and resulting civilian casualties.” Offering his condolences, he added: “I urge parties to de-escalate, exercise maximum restraint & respect international law, including the protection of civilians and civilian objects such as hospitals.”