6 Patients Received at Kabul Surgical Centre Following Explosion in PD9

At least one person has died and five injured following an explosion in Kabul PD 9, at 9:30am local time on Thursday, 13 February. Six patients have been received at EMERGENCY’s Surgical Centre in Kabul, four of whom remain seriously injured. One man has died from his injuries.

“We received six patients at our Kabul Surgical Centre, all men. One person died in our hospital due to his injuries, and four others are in critical condition,” explains Dejan Panic, EMERGENCY’s Country Director in Afghanistan. “The patients arrived by both private means and public ambulance services. They were received by our medical staff, who are currently caring for them. Afghan civilians, already suffering from an unprecedented economic crisis, are paying the consequences of these explosions.”

In 2025, about 22.9 million people – almost half of the entire Afghan population – will need humanitarian assistance to survive.

Amid a lack of international concern and attention for Afghanistan, EMERGENCY continues to guarantee free medical care in the country. With ongoing activities at its three surgical centres, maternity centre, and more than 40 First Aid Posts and health clinics throughout the country, the NGO has observed Afghanistan sink into a major economic crisis. Today, about 48% of the population live below the poverty line, and many people are unable to afford basic necessities.

Meanwhile, the legacy of conflict continues to impact the population.

“Despite the fact that more than three years have passed since the formal end of the conflict, we continue to see people arrive at the Kabul Surgical Centre who are in fact ‘war-wounded,’” says Dejan Panic. “This includes patients who suffer injuries from stab wounds, gunshots, shrapnel and mines.”

In 2024 alone, 1,452 patients with war-related injuries were admitted to EMERGENCY’s Surgical Centre in Kabul.

EMERGENCY, which celebrated 30 years of humanitarian activities in 2024, has been present in Afghanistan since 1999 with two Surgical Centres in Kabul and Lashkar-Gah, a Surgical and Paediatric Centre and a Maternity Centre in Anabah, in the Panjshir Valley, and a network of more than 40 First Aid Posts and Primary Healthcare Centres.