RT has got a sneak peek into the Taliban’s drugs war by talking to patients and doctors at a Kabul hospital. The group promised a ‘narcotics-free’ Afghanistan as it took power in mid-August and has since set some plans in motion.
Afghans have millions of drug addictions. Up to 10% of the nation’s population – roughly 3.5 million people, including 800,000 women and children – take drugs, according to Ahmed Zahir Sultani, the head of a Kabul hospital responsible for the rehabilitation of drug addicts.
Massive drug addiction came as a legacy of the country’s tumultuous past. Since the 1980s, Afghan drugs have flourished even during the US-NATO occupation. Even though the Taliban did profit from drugs in the past and declared their own, they didn’t shy away. “war on drugs”After assuming power in August 2021.
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According to reports, Taliban fighters searched under bridges and in parks for drug addicts. Most of them had to be taken to Kabul’s hospital.
It has a capacity for 1,000 beds and was built by President Ashraf Ghani. Sultani stated that it now houses around 3,000 people. “great challenge”Pointing to “shortage of food, medicines, beds and staff to care”For the patients.
While the conditions in hospital can be difficult, many patients look at it as a way to escape their pain. Syed Mustafa was one of the patients. “thankful”He is grateful to the Taliban for transporting him to the hospital. After rehabilitation, he hopes to be reunited with his family. Najeebullah, another patient had similar goals. He explained that he began using drugs shortly after being captured in a Taliban attack and watching his colleagues go to their deaths.
Not all patients are content with their circumstances. Gul Muhammad told RT, that his brothers placed him at the hospital through deception despite the fact that he had stated that he wasn’t. “does not take any drugs.”
Both the head of the hospital and some of the patients appealed to the world to help Afghans – and the Taliban government – in the fight against drugs. “I think people with more resources should come here to help,”Sultani stated that Mustafa would not, but Mustafa said so. “personally appeal to the world to help us.”
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