Increase in war-wounded Afghans

As the war in Afghanistan continues, the number of wounded being brought to government hospitals in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) is increasing week by week, a Pakistani health official told IRIN on Thursday. Some 180 seriously wounded people and at least 150 with minor injuries have been registered in the province, which borders eastern Afghanistan.

"As the fighting has intensified, we have seen a steady rise in casualties," the secretary for health and emergency coordination at Hayatabad Medical College in the NWFP, Dr Jamil Bangash, said. He added that many patients said they did not want to return to Afghanistan under the current situation. As US led-air strikes enter their sixth week, human rights bodies and aid agencies have continued to express concern over civilian casualties.

Bangash, who is primarily working with patients suffering from head and chest wounds, added that most had been brought from the Afghan capital, Kabul, the eastern city of Jalalabad, as well as some from as far as the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif, where a breakdown of law and order has been reported.

However, he could not clarify whether all of the patients were civilians, as he said that even if some were Taliban fighters they would not admit it. Bangash also said that casualties were being transported to Pakistan without encountering too many problems at the border, despite its being closed.

The most common injuries, he said, were to the head and chest, lower spine and back, and fractures. "There have been some cases of people being paralysed too, but the numbers are very few," he added.

Bangash explained that Afghans were being taken first to border hospitals in various districts of the tribal areas, while those with serious wounds were being transferred to hospitals in Peshawar, the capital of the NWFP. "Most district hospitals have operating theatres and surgeons, but lack good facilities for post- operative care," he added.

He said most of the wounded were being brought to Pakistan by relatives, the Red Crescent Society or by the Pakistan-based Edhi Foundation. The Edhi Foundation has seven ambulances waiting at the Torkham (Towr Kham) border, and medical staff say they are transporting eight to 10 Afghans to hospitals on a daily basis.