Red Cross Treats 4,000 Afghans Wounded by War in August 

ISLAMABAD - The International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday its health facilities in Afghanistan have treated more than 4,000 patients wounded by weapons over the past week, an indication of the intensity of the recent Afghan conflict    The violence comes as the United States along with regional and international stakeholders have gathered in Doha, Qatar, to press the Afghan parties to the conflict to urgently seek a negotiated settlement to the South Asian country’s long war.  

 An ICRC statement called on both Afghan government forces and Taliban insurgents for immediate restraint, stressing that civilians and vital infrastructure such as hospitals must be protected from fighting.    Hundreds of thousands of civilians are at risk as fighting intensifies in and around Kunduz, Lashkar Gah, Kandahar, and other Afghan contested cities, it added.    “Street-to-street clashes in Kunduz, Lashkar Gah and other cities over the last few days have injured hundreds of civilians even as medical services are heavily strained due to damage to health facilities and a lack of staff,” the ICRC said.   Several cities have no electricity, and water supply systems are barely operational in some places.    “We are seeing homes destroyed, medical staff and patients put at tremendous risk, and hospitals, electricity and water infrastructure damage,” said Eloi Fillion, ICRC’s head of delegation in Afghanistan.    Fillion said the use of explosive weapons, such as grenades, rockets, mortars and bombs, in cities is having an indiscriminate impact on the population.  “Many families have no option but to flee in search of a safer place,” he said. “This must stop.”