KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Pakistani airstrike that hit a drug treatment center in the Afghan capital Kabul in March, killing hundreds of civilians, should be investigated as a possible war crime, human rights organization Amnesty International says.In a social media post on Wednesday, the rights group said it had “found no evidence to support” Pakistan’s claims that the Omid drug rehabilitation center was being used for military purposes or to store ammunition and weapons.Afghanistan has said the strike on March 16 killed about 400 civilians in the facility. Pakistan has disputed the death toll, and has insisted it was targeting a military facility. The United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, said in May it had independently verified at least 269 civilian deaths and 122 injuries, but that “the real figure may be significantly higher.” Afghan authorities held at least two mass funerals for victims of the strike in March.The 2,000-bed Omid center had been operating as a drug addiction treatment facility for about a decade. It was located near Kabul’s international airport in what was once part of a NATO military base.
Amnesty’s investigation analyzed photos and videosAmnesty International published an investigation into the strike on Tuesday, saying it had analyzed and verified more than 60 photos and videos, including videos released by Pakistan’s military, reviewed more than 30 satellite images of the area, and also conducted interviews.It said none of the videos “allow the identification of conclusive evidence of weapons, ammunition or other explosive goods stored in the area. The footage does not show secondary explosions immediately following the strikes, which would constitute evidence of a possible ammunition storage.”
