Iran deploys 'Haj Qasem' missile in retaliatory strikes as U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran enter 18th day

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Tuesday it used a new "Haj Qasem" ballistic missile for the first time in a fresh wave of attacks against Israel, as U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran entered their 18th day.

According to Iran's Tasnim news agency, the IRGC claimed the strikes targeted sites in Beit Shemesh, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem. It also said the barrage hit U.S. military bases in the region, including facilities in Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Iraq.

The IRGC said the operation included drones and several other ballistic missiles, including the Ghadr, Emad, and Fattah models, and warned of further attacks.

Iran's Haj Qasem is a road-mobile, solid-fuel medium-range ballistic missile with a reported range of about 1,400 kilometers, designed to strike high-value targets.

The Iranian army also said that since the early hours of Tuesday, it had been using drones to target weapons manufacturing facilities belonging to Israeli defense technology company Rafael and other military technology facilities, in response to Israel's attacks on Iranian security agencies.

UU.S. Central Command said on Tuesday on social media that the U.S. military has continued to search for and strike Iranian targets.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Tuesday that it has launched wide-scale strikes targeting infrastructure across Tehran.

The IDF also said it detected and successfully intercepted two missile attacks launched by Iran against Israel in the early hours of Tuesday. The missiles activated air raid sirens in northern and central Israel.

Also on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Energy Committee in the Iranian Parliament said that operations were continuing as usual on the country's southern Kharg Island, where a major strategic oil terminal is located, with oil exports proceeding without interruption.

Earlier, the Iranian military threatened that if oil facilities on the island were attacked, all oil and energy infrastructure owned by enterprises cooperating with the United States would be "immediately destroyed."

Iran deploys 'Haj Qasem' missile in retaliatory strikes as U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran enter 18th day

Iran deploys 'Haj Qasem' missile in retaliatory strikes as U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran enter 18th day

An Afghan official said Tuesday that at least 400 people were killed and 250 injured after a Pakistani air strike hit a drug rehabilitation hospital in the Afghan capital of Kabul, while Pakistan said the country targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure in Afghanistan.

Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman of the Afghan government, said in a statement posted on the social media platform X that the airstrike, launched at around 21:00 local time on Monday, struck the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul.

The hospital, a 2,000-bed facility dedicated to the treatment of drug addiction patients, was largely destroyed in the attack, Fitrat said, warning that the number of casualties could further rise.

According to the official, the airstrike triggered a large fire at the hospital. Rescue teams are working to control the fire and recover the remaining bodies of the victims.

On Tuesday, Esmat Ullah, head of the rehabilitation hospital, told China Global Television Network (CGTN) that rescuers were still searching for the bodies of victims at the site.

"We have about 400 people killed and others wounded. We have sent the wounded to various hospitals for treatment. We are still digging up the victims from the ground and you are now seeing this devastation," he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan on Monday refuted the Afghan government's claim, saying the Pakistan security forces precisely targeted technical equipment storage and ammunition storage in Kabul and Nangarhar province of Afghanistan that were used against Pakistani people, according to Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have sharply escalated since clashes erupted along their border late last month. Scores of people from both sides have been killed and injured, according to Afghan and Pakistani officials.

Afghanistan says Pakistani airstrike on hospital in Kabul, Pakistan denies claim