RASC News Agency: The Taliban’s decision to use ambulances and other vehicles from Samangan Provincial Hospital for their military parade has had dire consequences, leading to a critical shortage of emergency transport for gravely ill patients. This ill-conceived move resulted in the deaths of two patients who could not be transferred to Balkh Regional Hospital for urgent medical intervention.
On Wednesday, August 14th, the Taliban appropriated ambulances and other hospital vehicles for their military parade in Aybak. This irresponsible action left Samangan Provincial Hospital without the necessary means to transport two patients in need of life-saving surgery to the regional hospital in Balkh, causing their untimely deaths.
Informed sources in Samangan have confirmed that the absence of ambulances and specialized transport vehicles on that fateful Wednesday led to the deaths of the two patients. The bereaved families corroborated this, lamenting that their loved ones might have survived if the vehicles had been available. Footage from the Taliban’s military parade in Aybak clearly shows a procession of ambulances and vehicles belonging to Samangan Provincial Hospital, which had been commandeered early that morning for the parade.
According to sources, hospital doctors had urgently requested that at least a couple of ambulances remain on standby to handle any potential emergencies. However, the Taliban disregarded these pleas and took all the vehicles for their parade without any concern for the consequences. Reports indicate that Mullah Mohibullah Bahari, the Taliban’s Director of Public Health in Samangan, authorized the use of the hospital’s ambulances and vehicles in the parade, despite the objections of the hospital’s medical staff.
These vehicles were deployed from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. for the military parade, leaving Samangan Provincial Hospital without any means to transport patients during this critical period. This misuse of medical resources was not isolated to Samangan; similar instances occurred in other provinces where hospital vehicles and civilian transport were commandeered for Taliban military parades, resulting in the temporary incapacitation of vital health centers.
