Afghan man loses his leg and dreams to stray bullet

KABUL, Afghanistan－A resident of Afghanistan's eastern Kapisa Province, Abdul Fawad is visiting an International Committee of the Red Cross hospital in Kabul to learn how to walk with his artificial leg. His dream of becoming a construction engineer is shattered.

"I am 19 years old and also a high school graduate, but I'm unfortunately sitting idle at home and not able to do anything because of the destructive war that has crippled me and eventually deprived me of everything," he said woefully.

"It was midnight and I was at home. Fighting continued in the area, but suddenly a bullet struck my leg. And after I reached the hospital, the doctors cut it," said Fawad, recounting his ordeal that took place several months ago.

The dejected man had passed the university entrance test several months earlier, but was refused admission because of his injury. Now, he is crippled for life.

The outcome of prolonged fighting in Afghanistan has been nothing more than the destruction of Afghanistan and killing of Afghans.

"Countless Afghan women have become widows and countless children have become orphans due to the war in Afghanistan," said Fawad, calling his compatriots to give up fighting and work for lasting peace of the country.

With the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in mid-August and formation of a caretaker government on Sept 7, the war finally ended.

However, legacy of the war is still visible everywhere, as between 200 and 300 war victims and disabled people visit the ICRC hospital daily to receive medical treatment or to have artificial limbs fitted, said Najmuddin Helal, head of ICRC's Orthopedics Center in Kabul.

In the beginning, the orthopedics center only provided services to war victims. But as time passed, it now serves all disabled persons including crippled children and those whose limbs were damaged in traffic accidents.

"About 15,000 disabled persons register with the center annually and about 2,000 of them are war victims who have lost their limbs due to the brutal conflicts," said Helal in an interview with Xinhua News Agency at his office.

Helal, also a war victim who lost his leg years ago, said the ICRC's Orthopedic Center in Kabul has been in operation over the past 33 years and has provided prosthetic limbs to thousands of Afghans.

Xinhua