On April 22, 2018, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive charge near the doorway of a voter registration center in Kabul’s Shia-majority Dasht-e Barchi neighborhood, killing at least 57 people and injuring another 119. Meters away from the blast was “Arash,” a 27-year-old delivery driver and father to a 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter. Like many other bystanders, he rushed to the scene to try and help survivors. Instead, he ended up collecting the dead and their severed limbs: feet, hands
© 2019 John Holmes for Human Rights Watch
I did not forget a single moment of this attack – day or night,” he said, recalling how the attack changed his mood and behavior. “Before the attack, I could get angry, but not like this….But due to the economic problems, I just suffered on my own and did not go to the hospital. I just remembered every moment, until the next attack [I experienced”
The Afghan government is failing to provide sufficient psychosocial, or mental health, support to Afghans who have experienced traumatic events, Human Rights Watch said today. More than half the Afghan population, including many survivors of conflict-related violence, struggle with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, but fewer than 10 percent receive adequate psychosocial support from the state, according to government documents. The Afghan government and international donors should expand mental health services and outreach campaigns.
Unconscious, Arash was first taken to the Istiqlal, one of the largest public hospitals in the capital, and then to a surgical center for war victims run by Emergency, an Italian organization. Arash stayed at the hospital for one week, treated by foreign doctors and nurses. “When I was under treatment, I got medicine,” he said. “When I got discharged, I got a pocket of paracetamol tablets. No one asked me how I felt [mentally], all they did was a physical examination.”
The April 2018 and March 2019 attacks had a significant impact on Arash’s psychological wellbeing and that of his entire family. “One day, my wife was not at home and I turned on the TV and didn’t like what I saw,” Arash said. “I was hearing that there was an attack and that the Taliban were gaining ground. So I punched the TV and broke it.” The incident was not?? the last in a series of angry outbursts that Arash attributed to the attacks.
© 2019 John Holmes for Human Rights Watch
Because of where he lives, Arash said he is constantly confronted by the memories of the attack. “It happened in my street,” he said. “Every day, I have to pass through, and I remember the smoke, the ashes, the darkness and the sounds.” Adding to Arash’s concerns are his young family’s economic situation. Because of pain to his leg, he said he cannot work anymore, and he does not know how to feed his family. “I used to be very strong,” he said. “But now I feel like a half person.”
In a separate interview, Arash’s wife, “Mozhdah,” 26, said the attacks changed her life completely: “In the past, life was good,” she said. “Not anymore. I was pregnant for two months [when the second attack happened]. When I saw the injured body of my husband, I was shocked and lost the baby two days later.”
Adding to Mozhdah’s despair is her husband’s present psychological state: “Sometimes I feel bad, but I am forcing myself to manage the house and the children since my husband is sick,” she said. “When I get angry or sad or pressurized, I don’t enter the house because I don’t want him to feel bad.…I cannot breathe, I feel like I’m suffocating and just start to cry loudly. If I don’t, it feels like I cannot speak.”
The Afghan government is failing to provide sufficient psychosocial, or mental health, support to Afghans who have experienced traumatic events, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.
According to Human Rights Watch, more than half the Afghan population, including many survivors of conflict-related violence, struggle with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, but fewer than 10 percent receive adequate psychosocial support from the state, according to government documents. The Afghan government and international donors should expand mental health services and outreach campaigns.
Vietnamese Monk Seeks Justice for Brother Who Died after Police Interrogation
In March 2015, the Thanh Nien newspaper reported that from October 2011 to September 2014, there were 226 deaths in detention facilities nationwide. The Ministry of Public Security explained them as being due to illness and suicide. Since then, no further reports have been issued.
Hamas Reviews Israeli Cease-Fire Plan in Gaza
Israel has proposed a cease-fire plan for Gaza, which Hamas says it is reviewing. This follows after an Egyptian delegation visited Israel, during which officials described a “new vision” for a prolonged end of hostilities.
Taxi System Powered by Electric Cars Developed by Nigerian Company
The need for sustainable solutions becomes more pressing as climate change wreaks havoc around the world. In Nigeria, a private company recently introduced an Uber-style taxi system made of approximately 200 electric vehicles.
Myanmar Junta Attack on Hospital Kills 4, Many Injured
A Myanmar junta airstrike on a hospital in the west of the country has killed four people, including patients and staff, and wounded 15, a rebel group told Radio Free Asia on Friday.
To Tackle Militant Attacks,Nigeria Considers Introduction of State Police Across the Country
As part of measures to tackle the militant attacks, mass kidnappings, and banditry activities that have plagued the nation, Nigeria is considering establishing state police throughout all 36 of its states. The violence has overwhelmed the country’s police force, which numbers over 300,000 members.The state police are an addition to this force. Nigerians cautiously welcome the move.
2 Decades on, Families of Tak Bai Incident Victims Seek Justice
Nearly two decades after the Tak Bai Incident where over 80 people died in Thailand’s insurgency-stricken southern border region, the victims’ families filed a lawsuit on Thursday against government officials allegedly involved in the deaths.
On US University Campuses, Pro-Palestinian Protests Spread
Pro-Palestinian protests take place on college campuses across the country every day. Students are protesting against the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and demanding that humanitarian aid be allowed to flow into the territory.It seems that the protests are not dying down while several students and demonstrators have been suspended or detained.
Hong Kong’s Tech City Will Destroy Key Wetland for Birds: Experts
Environmental groups have slammed a Hong Kong government plan for a high-tech urban development despite warnings it will destroy a crucial wetland habitat for migratory birds, including the endangered black-faced spoonbill.
