KABUL (SW) – Followng the attack on the maternity wing of Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in mid-May, the Doctors Without Borders on Monday announced to withdraw and cease activities at the hospital.
The announcement comes as the death toll from the brutal attack has risen, with 16 mothers now confirmed killed.
The decision comes with the understanding that while no information has emerged about the perpetrators or motive of the assault, mothers, babies and health staff were the deliberate targets of the attack, and that similar attacks may occur in the future, it said in a statement.
"A month after the horrifying event, we know very little; the attack remains unclaimed. Afghan authorities blamed the Taliban – or Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan – who refuted and condemned the accusation, while representatives of foreign governments publicly pointed their finger at radical groups as perpetrators, namely Islamic State Khorasan province", it said.
“We were aware that our presence in Dasht-e-Barchi carried risks, but we just couldn't believe that someone would take advantage of the absolute vulnerability of women about to give birth to murder them and their babies,” said Thierry Allafort-Duverger, MSF Director General. “But it did happen.”
“Today, we have to accept reality: higher walls and thicker security doors won’t prevent such horrific assaults from happening again,” he said.
The decision has been communicated to the staff, the national health authorities and other partners.
With almost 16,000 deliveries in 2019, the Dasht-e-Barchi maternity wing was one of MSF’s biggest such projects worldwide. More than 70 MSF staff and patients in MSF healthcare programmes have been killed in Afghanistan over the past 16 years. Such tragic instances include the murder of five employees in Badghis province in 2004, and the destruction of our hospital in Kunduz by the US air force in October 2015, when 42 people died.
ENDS
