Afghanistan

Sep 06, 2021

Afghanistan: Medical needs grow as international organisations suspend activities

After months of fighting on the outskirts of Herat in Afghanistan, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also known as the Taliban, took control of the city on August 12. We are running an inpatient therapeutic feeding centre (IFTC), a clinic for displaced people, and a COVID-19 treatment centre in...

Aug 10, 2021

Afghanistan: Injuries and displacement soar as violence spreads around the country

The violence in Afghanistan has surged since May with fighting around and inside provincial capitals between the Afghan forces and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA, also known as the Taliban). This is impeding access to medical care, increasing the number of people killed and wounded by...

Aug 02, 2021

Intense fighting causes severe trauma causalities in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan

Fighting in Afghanistan has been intense since May, but in recent weeks the clashes between the Afghan army and the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan (also known as the Taliban) have increased in intensity and have moved into more urban areas such as Lashkar Gah city in Helmand Province. “There has...

Marianna Cortesi

Oct 06, 2020

"They asked me to tell their story"

The heavy clashes that erupted in and around Lashkar Gah city on 11 October so far show no signs of abating. The main trauma hospital for war-wounded, run by another medical organisation, remains under pressure.

Jun 15, 2020

Afghanistan: MSF withdraws from Dasht-e-Barchi following attack and assassination of patients and staff

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has announced its decision to end activities and withdraw from Dasht-e-Barchi in Kabul, following the brutal attack of 12 May in which 16 mothers were systematically shot dead. An MSF midwife working for the organisation, two children aged 7 and 8 and six other people...

Zarah Koochizad

Jun 11, 2020

“As midwives in Afghanistan, we are the silent leaders of our country.”

Zahra Koochizad is the MSF midwife supervisor in the MSF maternity wing of Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.

May 14, 2020

“They came to kill the mothers” in Kabul maternity hospital attack

In the days following the attack to Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul, it has become clear that what happened in Kabul on 12 May was a deliberate assault on a maternity hospital with the purpose of killing mothers in cold blood. “I went back the day after the attack and what I saw in the maternity...

May 13, 2020

Revolting attack on maternity ward kills pregnant women and babies in Afghanistan

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is devastated after yesterday's sickening attack on pregnant women, mothers and their babies at our maternity in Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. While pregnant women and babies were seeking healthcare, in one of the most...

Susan Lam

Mar 29, 2018

Afghanistan: Managing Human Resources on the Front Line

Mar 06, 2017

Maternal healthcare in Dasht-e-Barchi Hospital, Afghanistan

Special care for sick newborns A mother of eight holds her sick baby in the newborn unit in Dasht-e-Barchi. Her first seven children were born at home but now that Médecins Sans Frontières offers free maternal care, she decided to come to the hospital. © Aurelie Baumel/MSF Médecins Sans Frontières...