Residents of western Kabul: Taliban want to deprive Hazara people of medical services by transferring Barchi Hospital.
Local sources in Kabul have reported that the Taliban Ministry of Health has begun the process of transferring equipment and personnel to the 200-bed Mohammad Ali Jinnah Hospital in western Kabul.
The decision comes despite what local residents see as part of the Taliban’s blatantly discriminatory and ethnic-based policies.
According to local residents, the Taliban are trying to cut off health services from the Hazara and Shia areas of Dasht-e-Barchi and shift them to Pashtun-dominated areas.
The hospital, which was built by Pakistan in 2019 at a cost of $24 million, is the only government hospital operating in western Kabul.
According to reports, the Taliban have decided to transfer the staff and equipment of Mohammad Ali Jinnah Hospital to Ahmad Shah Baba Hospital in the “affordable area” of Kabul and merge the two medical centers.
Local sources emphasize that this Taliban move effectively means depriving more than three million residents of western Kabul of government health services. The Taliban have not provided any official explanation for the reasons for this move.
Protesters say the Taliban have once again shown their open hostility towards the Hazara and Shia communities with this decision.
They believe that the transfer of the hospital from Dasht-e-Barchi – which is predominantly Hazara – to Arzhan-e-Qamar, which is predominantly Pashtun, is a reflection of the Taliban’s discriminatory and ethnic-based policies.
Local residents have warned that the decision will put additional pressure on people in western Kabul and severely limit their access to basic health services.
This is not the first time the Taliban have taken such a step. In 1400, the group also closed the 50-bed Dasht-e-Barchi hospital due to lack of funding and moved its facilities to other areas.
Now, the repetition of this policy against the Mohammad Ali Jinnah Hospital shows that instead of providing fair services to all citizens, the Taliban are using health services for ethnic interests and to strengthen Pashtun-dominated areas;
An action that has sparked a wave of anger and dissatisfaction among the people of western Kabul.
