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KABUL, Afghanistan The morning was not yet over, but already it felt as if the very cycle of life in Afghanistan was under assault, with attacks at a maternity ward and a funeral serving as grim reminders that its people are in peril from cradle to grave.

First, three militants stormed a hospital in Kabul soon after 10 a.m. on Tuesday, shooting new mothers dead before the newborns in their arms had even seen the light outside the hospital. At least 15 people were killed inside the hospital mothers, babies, medical workers, and one police officer.

As security forces were scrambling in Kabul, about a hundred miles to the east, in the province of Nangarhar, a suicide bomber walked into the funeral for a local police commander. As hundreds of locals queued in front of the body for the final prayer, the bomber detonated his explosives not far from the corpse.

The commander, 59, who had survived many battles and attacks, had died of a heart attack. Now his body was riddled with shrapnel, too. The explosion killed at least 25 and wounded 68 others.

Violent death here is so frequent, and so scattered, that an accurate count is an impossible task. But by dusk on Tuesday, when the reported deaths of the day from all sides had been tallied, the Afghan war had most likely taken 100 lives.

Of course, the night brings more death and the next day more tallying.

What is crushing Afghans is not just the sheer brutality of the attacks with newborn babies soaked in blood and deprived of mothers before they have even gotten a name, but the failure of anything to bring a reprieve.

The United States and the Taliban signed a preliminary peace agreement in February that was supposed to have brought the two-decade war closer to an end. Instead, the insurgents have only cranked up attacks around the country, inflicting heavy casualties on Afghan forces with dozens killed every day.

The peace deal has been stuck in a prisoner exchange that was supposed to unlock direct negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban to plan for power-sharing after the United States withdraws its remaining troops. The Taliban are insisting on the release of up to 5,000 of their prisoners before considering any other moves.

An Afghan group affiliated with the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for attacking the funeral. But no group has claimed responsibility for attacking the hospital. The Taliban, in a statement, denied that they were behind it. But coming after weeks of intensifying Taliban attacks, the government blamed the group.

And in a sign that any momentum toward peace was dissipating, President Ashraf Ghani ordered Afghan forces to abandon the active defense posture they had been in since the signing of the U.S.-Taliban agreement and return to offensive attacks against the insurgents.

The Taliban, with the stoking of foreigners, have intensified the war and are shedding Afghan blood, Mr. Ghani said in an address to the nation at the end of the bloody day. Dont see our invitation for peace and a cease-fire as our weakness, but as deep respect to the demand and will of the people.

Deborah Lyons, the head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, condemned the hospital assault. Who attacks newborn babies and new mothers? Who does this? she said on Twitter. The most innocent of innocents, a baby! Why? Cruelty has no followers from humanity.

The insurgents have refused even calls for a humanitarian cease-fire to allow the country to combat the rapidly spreading coronavirus, a call Mr. Ghani repeated in his address. Afghanistan has officially recorded about 5,000 cases of Covid-19, but officials warn that the spread is most likely much wider.

Between the daily toll of the war and the virus, the countrys health resources are stretched thin. With 80 percent of the population living just barely above the poverty line, there is fear that the economic shock waves of the pandemic could bring starvation.

On Tuesday, the health system itself came into the cross-hairs.

Today, my doctor, my medical personnel, the poor mother who is in labor, are left in chaos the doctor that is there to rescue her is covered in blood and falls next to her bed, said Wahid Majrooh, the deputy minister of health.

The attack in Kabul, the capital, targeted a 100-bed hospital in the western part of the city, a largely Shiite area often hit by Islamic State bombers.

The hospital is known for its large maternity ward, which is supported by Doctors Without Borders. During the five-hour operation to kill the three assailants, Afghan special forces were seen rescuing newborn babies. NATO troops were also seen at the site.

Crowds gathered outside the hospital and emotions ran high as they saw babies soaked in blood. A security official coming out of the hospital showed reporters pictures of the devastation inside the ward: mothers shot as they had tried to hide under a bed, a female nurse prostrate in blood, one woman still clinging to her newborn.

She was dead, but the baby was alive, the official said.

The relatives of one woman who had given birth at dawn were trying to get news. The womans brother wailed and twisted in pain as other relatives tried to calm him. Oh, God, oh God, was all he could say as he kept crying.

She had given birth already when the suicide bombers entered, said Rafiullah, the womans brother in law.

A community elder came out of the hospital with a list of a dozen newborns who had been evacuated to other hospitals. As he read the names of their mothers these had been written on pieces of tape on the babies stomachs, he said and the names of the hospitals the babies had been sent to, a man from the anxious crowd asked about the mothers.

Fifteen martyred mothers, said the community elder, Abdul Hadi. Their bodies are in the ambulances being evacuated now. We put them in body bags.

The bombing in Nangarhar Province targeted the funeral of Sheikh Akram, a local police commander. About 500 people had gathered at a large field in Khewa district for the final prayer, and a grave had been dug for him just across the road.

Naeem Jan Naeem, an eyewitness, said the imam had just asked people to line up and announced the beginning of the prayer when a huge blast was heard and a fire erupted in the front of the crowd.

The body of Sheikh Akram was close to the explosion, Mr. Naeem said. There was shooting after the explosion, too his face and his chest had shrapnel wounds.

His body was wounded after he had died.

Najim Rahim contributed reporting from Kabul, and Zabihullah Ghazi from Jalalabad.

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From Maternity Ward to Cemetery, a Morning of Murder in Afghanistan - The New York Times

May 13, 2020

By Tabasum Akseer

Afghanistan has endured decades of political instability and chaos. The country remains exceedingly fragile despite nearly 20 years of international support, and the disputed presidential election in February, in which long-time rivals Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah both declared themselves the winner, has left the Afghan government on the verge of imploding. As punishment for the countrys failure to resolve this dispute, the U.S. government has cut a billion dollars of aid and vowed to cut a billion more in 2021.

Added to botched elections and donor fatigue are stalled U.S.-led peace talks, which may now be derailed by Covid-19. The war-torn and impoverished nation has already been significantly affected by the spread of the virus, which has forced border closures, disrupting commercial and humanitarian deliveries and further stressing an already fragile healthcare system. As the pandemic bears down, travel restrictions and flight suspensions will make seeking care outside the country difficult or impossible.

Abandoned tanks from the Soviet era in Bamyan, Afghanistan. The country has endured decades of political instability and chaos. (Photo: Sayed Rashid Sadat / The Asia Foundation)

Amid these considerable challenges, Afghans living with disabilities are uniquely vulnerable. Afghanistan ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2012 and adopted the Law on Rights and Privileges of Persons with Disabilities the following year, but to date there have been few concrete steps to provide services to individuals living with disabilities. Assistance for Afghans with disabilities has never been a high priority for the government or the donor community, and political instability, insecurity, poor economic conditions, and weak governance have undermined efforts by the government to address their needs.

A 2020 report by Human Rights Watch notes that four decades of war have left Afghanistan with one of the worlds largest populations per capita of people with disabilities, including many with amputations, vision or hearing problems, and post-traumatic stress disorder. But the true size and circumstances of Afghanistans disabled population are uncertain, and policymaking is hindered by the lack of reliable empirical data.

In 2019, The Asia Foundation moved to fill this empirical void with the Model Disability Survey of Afghanistan. Implemented with technical support from the World Health Organization, the MDSA is the first such survey in Afghanistan in 15 years, and the first ever to collect representative data both on the prevalence and distribution of disabilities across the country and on the broader context of underlying health conditions, supportive environments, and other determinants of health and well-being of Afghanistans disabled population.

An enumerator collects data for the Model Disability Survey of Afghanistan, the first comprehensive survey of disabilities in Afghanistan in 15 years. (Photo: Jim Huylebroek / The Asia Foundation)

The MDSA is a complex survey using multistage sampling, administered to adults (18+ years) and children (217 years), with separate survey tools for each group. A total of 14,290 households were surveyed from April 14 to May 6, 2019, representing 111,641 Afghans across the country. Three core tools were developed, covering: (1) household characteristics, (2) adult disabilities (including health conditions, ability to function, healthcare support, availability of personal help and assistive products, well-being, and empowerment), and (3) childhood disabilities (including health conditions and ability to function). Importantly, the results are representative at both the national and regional levels.

The MDSA paints a disturbing picture of Afghanistans disabled population. Almost 80% of adults aged 18 and over have some form of physical, functional, sensory, or other impairment (24.6% mild, 40.4% moderate, and 13.9% severe). Severe disability is more prevalent among females (14.9%) than males (12.6%). Among children aged 217 years, 17.3% have a mild, moderate, or severe disability. The incidence of severe disabilities among adults and children, which stood at 2.7% in 2005, has risen steeply to 13.9%, putting Afghanistan in unprecedented healthcare territory.

The prevalence of severe disabilities increases with age, from 8.7% of those 1825 years old to 12.0% of those 2635, 15.2% of those 3645, 18.3% of those 4655, and 26.2% of those 56 and older. The prevalence of severe disabilities varies across ethnic groups, with Turkmen and other ethnic groups experiencing the highest incidence, at 16.5% and 16.1%, respectively. Among the other major ethnic groups, severe disability is more common among Pashtuns (14.4%) than Tajiks (13.7%), Hazaras (13.0%), or Uzbeks (11.8%). Severe disability is also more common among females, divorced or widowed adults, and the uneducated or unemployed.

The incidence of severe disability is particularly high in the South East region (20.5%), the West (25.4%), and the Central Highlands (25.4%), indicating the need for focused interventions in these areas to support health, education, and social integrationprograms.

Moderately or severely disabled adults report that their greatest challenges are physical mobility, community participation, employment, and education, suggesting these as potential policy and program areas.

Physical disabilities and mental health problems among adults are less likely to be congenital and more likely to be caused by the ongoing conflict and warfare in the country, pointing to the huge toll that thewar has taken on Afghans and underscoring the importance of peace and reconciliationefforts.

Remarkably, the MDSA found that roughly half of Afghans surveyed did not make use of assistive deviceseyeglasses, walkers, or other equipment or appliancesbecause they were not aware that such devices existed. This is a sobering finding in the 21st century, and there is obviously a dire need for essential equipment and devices, as well as education and awareness campaigns to better inform Afghans.

Children with disabilities struggle with transportation, lack opportunities for interpersonal engagement, and face difficulties learning at school. They are also far more likely to suffer from conditions such as muscular dystrophy, depression/anxiety, and migraines. Appropriate community- and school-based interventions will be critical to prevent these disabilities from lingering into adulthood.

The MDSA provides up-to-date, objective, and comprehensive data that should be used to make policy and measure progress toward improving the health and well-being of disabled populations in Afghanistan. The Afghan government, as well as the donor community, United Nations partners, nongovernmental organizations, and civil society, can use this data to develop cross-sectoral action plans to meet the needs of those living with disabilities.

The Model Disability Survey of Afghanistan can be found here. As we work to address the many challenges in Afghanistan, let us not lose sight of the most vulnerable, including those living with disabilities.

Tabasum Akseer is director of policy and research for The Asia Foundation in Afghanistan. She can be reached at tabasum.akseer@asiafoundation.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author, not those of The Asia Foundation.

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Disability Survey Is Afghanistan's First in 15 Years - The Asia Foundation - In Asia

The United States is bracing for a prolonged recession, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned this morning a day after Americas top infectious disease expert told lawmakers lifting lockdowns could trigger new COVID-19 outbreaks, potentially killing more than the 81,000 that have already passed away from the virus in theU.S.

The scope and speed of this downturn are without modern precedent, significantly worse than any recession since World War II, Powell said in an ongoing webcast you can watch here.

As far as the lockdowns, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned senators Tuesday, I think were going in the right direction, but the right direction does not mean we have by any means total control of thisoutbreak.

And looking to the autumn, Fauci said, If we do not respond in an adequate way when the fall comes, given that it is without a doubt that there will be infections that will be in the community, then we run the risk of having aresurgence.

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A target to avoid: Reuters reports today the most recent projected U.S. death toll is 147,000 dead Americans by early August, according to the latest forecast from the University of Washingtons Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. That estimate is up nearly 10,000 from the last projection, as social distancing is increasingly relaxed. (N.B. Heres a discussion of the problems with models.)

For the U.S.military:

ICYMI: South Korea just flew a C-130 filled with protective equipment to Joint Base Andrews,Maryland.

In relative success stories, Hong Kong just ended a 24-day run with no new local cases. And South Korea, which has also been held up as a model for defeating the virus, has seen more than 100 new cases emerge this week with a cluster linked to a Seoul nightclubdistrict.

On the other hand, COVID now appears to have hit Nigeria, and pretty hard combining with established diseases to pose a lethal threat in a region where medical care is poor, AFP reports.

As the worlds top vacation spot, the EU wants to restart travel to Europe in time for the summer, hoping to save millions of tourism jobs, AFP reports. (Notable exception: one English beach towns tourism office has just rebranded itself Do Not Visit Blackpool.)

Heres a quick summary of the European Commissions travel guidelines across air, road, bus and rail,viaReuters.

Forty-five ventilators delivered from Russia to the U.S. are being returned to FEMA, Buzzfeed News reported Tuesday. And two of the same type of ventilators caught fire, killing 6 people in Russia in the past week, according to AFP. Reuters has more from Russia, here.

Forget Russia; llamas could help save us all. AFP has a graphic with the science backing up that claim, here.

The misleading and dangerous movie Plandemic has become a conspiracy theory whack-a-mole. AP has the story of the video that tech companies cant seem to be able to remove frequently enough, here.

US, China Should Pursue Peace, Not Military Brinkmanship // Lyu Jinghua: Neither side wants to appear weak, but recent actions and rhetoric by both sides has put all of us in greater danger of U.S.-China military tensions sliding intoarmed

Afghanistan To Resume Offensive Actions Against Taliban In Blow To Peace Deal // Katie Bo Williams: How that will affect U.S. plans is anybodysguess.

The Trump Administrations Aggressive Approach to Arms Negotiations Could Backfire // Patrick Tucker: A key arms control agreement will either get much bigger or be scuttled, hastening a new armsrace.

To Compete With Russia and China at Sea, Think Small // Joshua Tallis: Great power competition requires more than preparing for great powerconflict.

The World: A Brief Introduction, with Richard Haass // Defense One Staff: The president of the Council on Foreign Relation explains why the world needs to be reintroduced to a general audience in2020.

Coronavirus Not Slowing Russian, Chinese Space Activities, US General Says // Marcus Weisgerber: Meanwhile, the U.S. has delayed several launches amid the COVID-19pandemic.

Donald Trump Has No Plan // David Graham: Thousands are dying each week, the economy is cratering, and the president is at a totalloss.

Welcome to this Wednesday edition of The D Brief from Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston. Send us tips from your community right here. And if youre not already subscribed to The D Brief, you can do that here. On this day in 1958, Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral trademarked a product wed later know as velcro, or as some U.S. Army trainers like to refer to it, hook and piletape.

The Taliban say theyre ready for a return to war against Afghan government forces, AFP reports from Kabul. The official statement from the group: From now onwards the responsibility of further escalation of violence and its ramifications shall fall squarely on the shoulders of the Kabul administration. Background, via Defense Ones Katie Bo Williams, here.That TB statement comes a day after 56 Afghans were killed, including women and children, in two attacks across Kabul and Nangarhar province. The latter involved a suicide attacker who detonated at a funeral, killing 32. No group has so far claimed the attack, but President Ashraf Ghani has blamed both the Taliban and the Islamic State group, AFP reports separatelytoday.

Niger says its military killed 75 Boko Haram fighters earlier this week in a region where Niger, Nigeria and Chad converge, Reuters reports.By the way: AEI has a new report out today on the health and economic toll of COVID-19 in African countries, which could see an increase [in] the likelihood of revolutions and state collapseincluding in states currently seen as stable. Read more, here; or check out a summarizing map, here.

An informal cancer survey by a military-aircrew club finds disturbingly high levels. Last fall, the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association asked its 3,400 members whether they had, or have had, cancer. Some 500, or 56% of respondents, said yes, the group told McClatchys Tara Copp, who has reported on higher-than-average incidences of cancer among former military people, and Congressional interest in the matter. Read on, here.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Israel today accusing Iran of working to foment terror, AFP reports. Pompeo and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were also expected to discuss US blessing for Israeli plans to annex Jewish settlements and other territory in the occupied West Bank. West Bank annexations were detailed in President Donald Trumps controversial Middle East peace plan, which was categorically rejected by the Palestinians. For other major powers, Israeli annexations in the West Bank would amount to a grave violation of international law. More here.

Odd declassification. Acting DNI Richard Grenell has declassified a list of Obama-administration people who sought to learn the identities of Trump associates swept up in surveillance of foreign officials, the New York Times reports. Mr. Grenells move came as Mr. Trump and his associates have in recent days intensified their efforts to change public perception about the Russia inquiry from a scandal involving Mr. Trump to one involving his predecessor.Steven Aftergoods take: It is part of the struggle over who controls the narrative of the investigation of the 2016 election, Aftergood, an expert on government classification at the Federation of American Scientists, told the Times. It is putting the spotlight on the investigators rather than the investigated. It is saying what is irregular here is not the extraordinary contacts with the Russian government but the attempt to understand them. Read on, here.Meanwhile: 9/11 revelation oopsie? In a court filing last month, the FBI inadvertently revealed one of the U.S. governments most sensitive secrets about the Sept. 11 terror attacks: the identity of a mysterious Saudi Embassy official in Washington who agents suspected had directed crucial support to two of the al-Qaida hijackers, Yahoo News reports.

Judge puts hold on DoJs attempt to free confessed felon Michael Flynn. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said in an order Tuesday that he expects independent groups and legal experts to argue against the bid to exonerate President Trumps former national security adviser of lying to the FBI, the Washington Post reports.Previously: Why Michael Flynn Is Walking Free by The Atlantics DavidGraham.

The FBI has spotted five new bits of North Korean malware, U.S. Cyber Command said onTuesday.

Lastly today: you could own Pattons open-cab Command Car. A Dodge WC-57 Command Car customized for Gen. George S. Patton is going up for auction in Indiana on June 13, Military Times reports. Pattons 4x4 Command Car, which was part of the 3rd Army headquarters motorpool, was built in 1944, according to Worldwide Auctioneers, with a Browning .30 caliber machine gun mount, armor plating, sirens, horns, auxiliary tanks, and 3rd Army HQ pennants. A bit more, here.

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Fed chair sees prolonged recession; Afghanistan to go back on the offensive; China, Russia not slowing space ops amid COVID; And a bit more. - Defense...

Col. (res.) Dr. Dan Gottlieb and Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Mordechai Kedar

Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdoan is constantly looking for opportunities to enhance its status as a regional superpower and promote its Islamist ideology in the Arab Middle East. Libya is the newest arena in which Erdoan is trying to capitalize on inter-Arab rivalries, this time in service to his desire to lay claim to gas under the seabed of the Mediterranean.

The so-called Arab Spring, which erupted in late 2010, brought several Arab countries to a state of near or in some cases total collapse. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoan saw this as an opportunity to further his perpetual quest for broad regional power. Earlier in 2010, prior to the uprisings, he had sent the Mavi Marmara cruise ship to save Hamas in Gaza from the Zionist blockade. In February 2011, following the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, he threw Turkish support behind the Muslim Brotherhood and provided support to Qatar, the Brotherhoods main financier.

Recently, a representative of the Khalifa Haftar government in Libya was named ambassador to Syria. He reopened the Libyan embassy in Damascus with the full consent of Assads government. The embassy had shut its doors in 2013, as did all Arab League diplomatic missions in Damascus following the suspension of Syrias membership in that organization. That occurred in response to the Assad regimes refusal to comply with a 2011 League resolution mandating a ceasefire in the Syrian civil war.

Khalifa Haftars rival in the bicephalic control system that has ruled Libya since the start of the second Libyan civil war in 2014 is the Tripolibased Government of National Accord. That government has signed cooperation agreements in the economic, energy, security, military, and maritime borders areas with Ankara, its chief ally and patron. Ankara is also a supporter of the rebel groups currently fighting Assad in Syria.

The creation of these two oppositional axesAssad-Haftar vs. Tripoli-Ankaradeserves notice. Other theaters of conflict that are still simmering ten years after the explosion of the Arab Spring undoubtedly contributed to the alignment of Haftar with Assad and pushed Fayez Sarrajs Government of National Accord into Erdoans arms. These practical alignments have deep ideological common denominators: on the one hand the remains of Arab nationalism, which is claimed by both the Baath party of Assads Syria and by Haftars Libyan National Army; and on the other hand the primarily Islamic Brotherhood foundations that underpin both Erdoans policies and Tripolis orientation.

The implications of these new alliances are not confined to their immediate theaters of conflict (Idlib in Syria and Misrata and Tripoli in Libya). Russia and Turkey have been trying to cooperate with one another for some time, but keep supporting opposite sides in Middle Eastern conflicts. This occurred in Syria and is happening again in Libya. Turkish forces are being sent to reinforce Sarrajs forces in the battle for Tripoli, where they find themselves fighting official Russian mercenaries (the Wagner group, which captured Crimea and provinces in Donbass in eastern Ukraine) that have been incorporated into the Libyan National Army. Israel, Cyprus, and Greece find themselves blocked by the sudden delineation of a direct maritime border between distant Turkey and Libya, a border that threatens the maritime gas line from Israel to Europe. The anti-Muslim-Brotherhood Sisi government in Egypt is menaced by a disquieting Islamic Turkish presence on its western border. NATO members France and Greece are supporting Haftars forces while the US, the UK, and Italy support Sarrajs.

Hulusi Akar, the current Turkish minister of defense and former Turkish chief of staff who headed NATOs military missions in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Kosovo and commanded most of the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, now oversees the Turkish military intervention in the second Libyan civil war. The deployment of troops to support Sarrajs forces started on January 5, 2020, and consists mainly of rebel fighters from the anti-Assad Syrian National Army accompanied by Turkish military advisors. Six thousand of those fighters have already been deployed, and they have suffered 151 combat casualties so far.

It seems that combining elements of the second Libyan Civil War with the Syrian Civil War is adding fuel to the fire and perpetuating these conflicts, which arose from the Arab Spring.

The violence in Libya will continue to devastate that oil-producing country as long as domestic rivalries are supported by external intervention. The Turkish involvement in Libya and Syria prolongs the agonies of the Libyan and Syrian people and propels more refugees toward Europe. Turkeys intervention in Arab countries should be viewed by the world as a major crime against those countries and Europe alike.

Col. (res.) Dr. Dan Gottlieb is a graduate of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the Bar-Ilan University law faculty. He served four rounds of service in different parts of Africa and is a leading authority on African issues within the Israel Medical Association.

Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Mordechai Kedar is a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. Heserved for 25 years in IDF military intelligence specializing in Syria, Arab political discourse, Arab mass media, Islamic groups, and Israeli Arabs, and is an expert on the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups.

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Erdoan's ambition of emerging as regional superpower and promote radical Islam in the Arab Middle East - Weekly Blitz

The Taliban in Afghanistan signed a peace agreement with the United States on February 29 and stopped attacking American forces there.

But theres no peace agreement between the Taliban and the Afghan government which means fighting between the two has continued unabated, even amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On March 20, Taliban fighters attacked an outpost in Zabul province and killed at least 24 Afghan soldiers, which caused outrage across the country. One day later, an Afghan government airstrike in Kunduz province killed 13 civilians, including 10 children. Two weeks ago, Afghan troops killed or wounded at least nine Taliban insurgents in Jawzjan province.

This is wrong, and it needs to stop. Especially now, said Dr. Sayed Shah, a medic from Afghanistans Baghlan province. Shahs concerns are shared by many Afghans who are frustrated that the Taliban and the Afghan National Army are continuing to fight while the coronavirus spreads across the country.

As of April 15, Afghanistan has reported 784 Covid-19 cases and 26 deaths, but observers and medics on the ground believe the real number of infections could be much higher. A majority of the infected people are from Herat province, which shares a border with Iran, a country that has been hit heavily by the pandemic.

Overall, there is a shortage of coronavirus tests and ventilators in the country. The World Health Organization (WHO) has provided Afghanistan 1,500 testing kits, yet only two laboratories in the country are equipped with machines that can process test samples. And according to the Ministry of Public Health, Afghanistan only has 300 ventilators for the entire country.

International observers have urged both the Afghan government and the Taliban to immediately stop fighting and start working with the United Nations and aid agencies to improve access to health care to save as many lives as possible.

Unfortunately, it seems both parties are unwilling to cooperate. And theyre not the only ones: The Afghan government itself is divided, with two rival politicians both claiming to be the legitimate president of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus continues to spread.

Every day, 50 to 100 patients visit Shahs small medical office. We try testing everyone who was in Herat or who used to have contact with people from there. We are also focusing on people with general symptoms, Shah said.

He described how he and other medics were taking samples of suspected infected patients and sending them to the capital, Kabul. But in part because of the ongoing fighting thats a very toilsome procedure, he told Vox.

The route to Kabul takes at least four hours just because of the distance, and includes passing through the mountainous Salang Pass with its decades-old roads. But often, even travel within Baghlan itself is virtually impossible because of the almost daily skirmishes between insurgents and security forces.

Baghlan always used to be a violence hot spot, but these days its totally unbearable. They [soldiers and insurgents] should lay down their arms and work as health workers to save lives, Mohammad Shahzad, a local merchant, told me.

On at least one occasion recently, power in the region was cut off due to clashes between Taliban fighters and Afghan soldiers in Baghlan. They endanger the lives of patients. It was not just us who lost power. Large parts of the country were affected, Shah said.

The Taliban denied that their operations caused the power outage and claimed instead that a power pole was damaged because of weather circumstances.

Attacks by government forces are escalating too. A recent airstrike killed two children in Baghlans Chashm-e Sher region and wounded several other civilians.

All of this is going on while physicians like Shah struggle to get the basic supplies they need to test and treat their patients. I dont have any tools to test anyone. Many local medics all over Afghanistan are in the same situation. We dont have a simple laboratory for tests, Shah said. Lets be realistic. We are not prepared for this crisis.

To be fair, few if any countries were adequately prepared to deal with this pandemic. But Afghanistans political situation made it even less prepared than most.

Incumbent President Ashraf Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah both declared themselves the winners of the countrys presidential election in October 2019, and both conducted separate inauguration ceremonies last month. Several politicians and strongmen are reportedly busy trying to resolve the differences between Ghani and Abdullah, but no official word has been released.

Its not the first time this has happened: After the 2014 presidential elections, Abdullah disputed the results showing that Ghani had won and refused to concede. Fearing the collapse of the political system and the outbreak of violence, then-Secretary of State John Kerry negotiated a compromise: Ghani was declared president, while Abdullah was given the newly created position of CEO, a pro forma head of government position that does not actually exist in Afghanistans constitution.

But coming amid the coronavirus pandemic, the timing of the political chaos this time around couldnt be worse. Rather than working together to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Ghani and Abdullah are vying for power, each trying to depict himself as the countrys savior, the one best prepared to lead the fight against the virus.

President Ghani and his cabinet members appear with masks and gloves from time to time and have stopped hugging each other when greeting. They also mentioned the virus in several speeches and statements and called on the people to take the disease seriously.

In reality, though, neither camp is succeeding in providing an adequate response to the crisis. Additionally, the US government said it was cutting $1 billion in aid to Afghanistan this year, and potentially another $1 billion in 2021, after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo failed to persuade Ghani and Abdullah in a meeting in Kabul in late March to support a unified government.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has started its own anti-coronavirus campaign. In Herats Shindand district, which is largely controlled by the insurgents, a Taliban Health Commission gathered to raise public awareness and prevent the spread of the virus.

The spread of Covid-19 is an important issue for us. We have taken all measures to fight against it as strong as possible, and we also have a structured plan, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Vox.

He said his group has already put several people under quarantine and that Taliban fighters are traveling to remote villages via motorcycles to distribute leaflets, soap bars, and hand sanitizer. We are especially focusing on returnees from Iran and told them that they should start a self-quarantine, Mujahid said.

With the countrys leadership bitterly divided and Afghan and Taliban forces continuing their bloody civil war, Afghanistans response to the pandemic has been dysfunctional, to say the least.

The spiraling COVID-19 crisis puts millions of Afghans at risk, yet Afghan officials are consumed with infighting and the Taliban with adversarial posturing, said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. The two sides need to work together with the UN and humanitarian agencies to ensure that aid reaches the whole country, or a dire situation will become catastrophic.

Two weeks ago, the Taliban declared they would uphold a ceasefire in areas under their control if they are hit by a coronavirus outbreak. The group also said they would guarantee the security of health and aid workers traveling to their areas offering assistance to prevent the spread of the virus.

And, after days of waiting, Herat has finally been put under quarantine by the government. Kabul is also facing a shutdown, and for the first time in years, many famous places like the Mandaii, the capitals historic open-air market, are almost completely empty.

Still, many Afghans are not satisfied with the reaction from either side regarding the crisis and have decided to take things into their own hands.

Some well-known Afghan singers have composed songs about Covid-19 and shared them on social media. One of them, sung by famous singer Farhad Darya, was even used by local security forces to raise awareness.

In Afghanistans southeastern province of Khost, young activists are taking the fight against the spread of the virus seriously. People, especially in remote areas, dont know anything about the virus. They have not ever heard of corona. It would end in a catastrophe if they remain uninformed, said Shah Mohammad Takal, a local activist.

In recent days, Takal and other activists have reached out to remote villages to try to inform people, many of whom are illiterate, about the dangers of Covid-19. They also printed leaflets with symbols to make the information as comprehensible as possible and spread them in villages and on the streets in the city.

These efforts seem to be having an effect, as measures have begun to ban overcrowding in public places in several provinces. In Khost, several hotels have already closed, and all types of meetings have been prohibited for the time being.

Public health officials are also trying to scan many travelers coming into the city by taking their temperatures or asking them questions about their health. Over the past several days, 8,000 masks, soap bars, and blankets have been distributed to the public in Khost.

Still, Takal said, Its just a matter of time until we record the first infection in Khost.

Western countries are struggling [to fight the virus], so you can imagine how difficult it is for Afghanistan, Takal said. But we try our best.

Emran Feroz is a freelance journalist and author and is the founder of Drone Memorial, a virtual memorial for civilian drone strike victims. Find him on Twitter @Emran_Feroz.

Mohammad Zaman is a journalist based in Khost, Afghanistan, who regularly works for Afghan media outlets and radio channels.

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Coronavirus in Afghanistan: The pandemic hasnt stopped the government and the Taliban from fighting - Vox.com