Amnesty International on Wednesday, 22 July declared that Pakistan's airstrike on the Omid Rehabilitation and Treatment Centre in Kabul should be investigated as a possible war crime, stating that no evidence supports Islamabad's claim that the 2,000-bed medical facility was used for military purposes. The strike, carried out on 16 March, killed at least 269 civilians and injured several others in Kabul's Pul-e-Charkhi area.

What Amnesty International Found

Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty International's Acting Regional Director for South Asia, said the attack constituted 'a serious violation of international humanitarian law — possibly amounting to a war crime.' She noted that the Omid Centre had functioned as a medical facility for more than a decade, making the strike a 'major failure in military planning by Pakistan that led to a significant loss of civilian life.'

Amnesty's open-source investigators and weapons experts concluded that the facility was not a 'legitimate military target' under International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The organisation stated that Pakistan violated the IHL principles of distinction, precaution, and proportionality — protections specifically designed to shield civilians and healthcare infrastructure during armed conflict.

Pakistan's Justification Rejected

Islamabad has claimed the Omid facility was being used to store weapons and ammunition, or for other military purposes. Amnesty International directly rejected this, stating that 'the evidence Pakistan has made public so far does not rebut the conclusion that this was an unlawful attack causing harm to civilians and civilian objects.'

Lassee described the strike as reflecting a 'lethal failure' by Pakistan to comply with its legal obligation to verify whether a target constitutes a military objective before striking.

Demands for Accountability

Amnesty International has called on Pakistan to urgently conduct a 'transparent, thorough, independent, and impartial investigation' into the attack — specifically into the decision-making process that led to the targeting of the Omid Centre — and to make the findings public. The organisation further stated that where sufficient evidence exists, authorities should prosecute those suspected of criminal responsibility, including under the doctrine of command responsibility.

Broader Pattern of Civilian Casualties

The 16 March strike was not an isolated incident. It was part of a series of airstrikes conducted by the Pakistan military in Afghanistan amid escalating cross-border hostilities with the Taliban since October 2025. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented more than 750 civilian casualties — 372 killed and 392 injured — in Afghanistan between January and March 2026 alone.

Last month, Pakistani military airstrikes in the Afghan provinces of Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar killed at least 36 civilians, including women and children, and injured 163 others, according to Taliban authorities. The US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has also called for an impartial investigation into possible war crimes following Pakistan's recent strikes in Afghanistan, citing grave concern over civilian casualties.

With two major human rights bodies now demanding accountability, international pressure on Islamabad is mounting — and the absence of a credible Pakistani investigation is likely to intensify scrutiny at multilateral forums in the weeks ahead.