"The toll is not final as the rescue operation is still going on but we have around 400 martyrs and more than 200 wounded," ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman told a news conference.

Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani gave a toll of "408 killed and 265 wounded" at the same briefing.

Pakistan hit Kabul on Monday night in the latest strike in a long-running conflict, which has escalated over claims that the Taliban government is harbouring extremists who have carried out cross-border attacks.

Islamabad denied that it had targeted civilians and said it had carried out precision strikes on "military installations and terrorist support infrastructure".

The Afghan authorities, which denies sheltering militants, called on families of the victims to allow their loved ones to be buried in a communal grave, to mark their deaths during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

There was no immediate independent verification of the government death toll but AFP reporters counted at least 30 bodies and dozens of wounded being removed from the devastated clinic on Monday night.

The Italian NGO Emergency, which said it received three bodies and was treating 27 wounded at its Kabul hospital soon after the strike, also indicated that the death toll was likely to be high.