'Flagrant violation of Islamic, humanitarian values': Al-Azhar condemns Kabul hospital attack

Egypt’s leading Sunni Islamic institution Al-Azhar has condemned the targeting of a hospital in Kabul that left hundreds dead and injured, calling the incident a “flagrant violation” of humanitarian values and Islamic teachings.

In a statement posted on X Al-Azhar said, "Al-Azhar Al-Sharif condemns in the strongest terms the targeting of a hospital in the Afghan capital #Kabul, which resulted in the fall of hundreds of martyrs and wounded, in a crime that represents a flagrant violation of all humanitarian values and the teachings of Islam, which have forbidden aggression against the soul and preserved the human right to life."

Al-Azhar called the attack a “fully constituted crime," stressing that targeting patients and medical facilities is strictly prohibited under Islamic law, which safeguards the sanctity of human life.

"Al-Azhar affirms that targeting patients and medical facilities is a fully constituted crime, prohibited by Sharia, expressing its profound sorrow for the fall of innocent Muslims in the blessed month of #Ramadan, the month of mercy and compassion, which exacerbates the ugliness of this aggression and contravenes the objectives of the tolerant Sharia," the statement added.

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The Sunni institution also urged an end to violence against civilians and called for adherence to the values of humanity and solidarity, while offering prayers for the victims and their families and wishing a swift recovery for the injured.

More than 400 people were killed in an airstrike attributed to the Pakistan Air Force that struck a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul, the Taliban administration said on Tuesday, describing it as the deadliest incident since cross-border hostilities escalated late last year.

Pakistan rejected the allegation as “false and misleading,” stating that its forces had “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure.”

With inputs from agencies