Targeting Healthcare Personnel.

No matter what happens, all parties in a conflict must adhere to certain rules, norms and international humanitarian law, and attacking healthcare workers is a cardinal sin. In Afghanistan, a recent report of the United Nations (UN) informs us that neither the Taliban nor the government has abided by humanitarian law since both parties targeted healthcare personnel twelve times in just a little over two months, from March 11 to May 23.

Targeting healthcare workers in a country like Afghanistan is beyond comprehension. When the fight between the government forces and the Taliban has already made the lives of ordinary Afghan people miserable and intolerable, gunning down medical staff worsens the situation. In stark abrogation of the Geneva Conventions and the laws of war, the attacks on healthcare workers and health facilities have reached unprecedented levels in Afghanistan in recent years.

Deliberate and systematic targeting of healthcare facilities and health workers - the 'weaponisation' of healthcare is a strategy employed by both the government and the insurgents to undermine medical...

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