MSF received 50 patients at its surgical hospital in Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan, following violent protests over the reported Quran burnings at Bagram airbase.

Violent demonstrations

A young Afghan man is treated for a gunshot wound to his lower chest. MSF hospital Kunduz. December 2011.
© Michael Goldfarb

Protests have been raging across Afghanistan since the Quran burnings were first reported.

Demonstrations yesterday turned violent in Kunduz as protesters tried to storm the UN compound in the province.

“It all happened very quickly. We saw almost 30 patients over the course of an hour when the violence first started, most of them in critical condition and needing immediate care”, says Silvia Dallatomasina, MSF’s Medical Coordinator in Kunduz.

The MSF surgical hospital received a total of 50 patients, of whom 39 were admitted, the majority suffering gunshot wounds.

Three patients died, the rest have been stabilised and treated or referred to the regional hospital.

Gunshot injuries 

MSF surgical teams carried out fourteen operations throughout the day and into the night, including vascular surgery and treatment of fractures from gunshots.

MSF has been running a surgical hospital in Kunduz since August 2011, providing urgent surgical care and follow-up treatment for people wounded in the conflict and for those suffering from life-threatening injuries.

Hundreds of people have been treated in the hospital since it opened, which is the only specialised surgical hospital of its kind in northern Afghanistan.

A strict no-weapons policy is implemented in all locations where MSF works in Afghanistan to ensure patient safety and security.