U.S. raids spark fear in traumatised Afghan children
KABUL, Afghanistan, 12 oct 01 (Reuters)--
By Sayed Salahuddin
Sadeq is like any other five-year-old boy -- inquisitive and talkative, spending his days exploring his surroundings with the boundless energy all youngsters have.
But as soon as night falls, he changes. The sound of an airplane turns him into a frozen statue. The noise of an explosion triggers a frenzy of shivering.
"The doctors have assured me that he will be all right," says his mother, sitting beside him at a hospital in the Afghan capital on Friday. "I really hope so, I am so worried."
Sadeq was just preparing for bed three nights ago when a bomb dropped in the U.S.-led air raids on Afghanistan landed near the family's home in the capital.
In the noise, dust and confusion that followed, Sadeq went into shock.
"For several hours Sadeq ... wept and wailed," said his mother, clutching the traditional all-enveloping Afghan burqa around her like a child would a security blanket.
"It was night-time and we could not help him. For a while he fainted and the next day he had forgotten his name," she said.
Sitting on his bed at a hospital in the Afghan capital on Friday, Sadeq was smiling again, enjoying a lull after five nights of continuous raids on the capital.
"We were forced to bring him to this hospital and now he laughs...but when the strike starts he shivers again and weeps," his mother said.
The family say they will take him home later on Friday despite doctors saying he was nowhere near recovered from the ordeal.
LITTLE TO TREAT PEOPLE WITH
They have little to treat him with, anyway.
Like every other hospital in Afghanistan, this one lacks even the most basic medicines and medical equipment. Despite the best intentions of doctors and staff, sanitation is a problem and electricity supplies intermittent at best.
On Friday, the hospital tried to treat others injured in the latest air raids.
"I was in my house when the attacks began," said one man.
"I went near the window and suddenly because of the wave of the explosion our windows broke and I got some injuries from flying glass on my hand."
Conditions are so bad, most people prefer simply to discharge themselves or their relatives.
"He was telling me that he wants to go home and we prefer him to go as the horror of planes flying over and the explosions with the darkness when the power is cut may bring back his shock," Sadeq's mother said.
"We hope that at home he will be in contact with his family members and there will be no more bombs in his area."
A doctor agrees.
"We can't help him here in the darkness of night from the explosions," the doctor said. "We just hope ... that by sending him home, he will be safe from other side."
While Sadeq's mental scars may take time to heal, he is luckier than some.
The doctor said he had just discharged a badly injured teenage girl after her father said he thought it was too dangerous in the hospital.
"She was 15 and tried to pick up food packets dropped by American planes when she hit a land mine," the doctor said.
"Her father decided to take her with her fresh wounds because of the fear of the bombardments in Kabul."
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