KABUL (Pajhwok): Sixteen months after a deadly explosion in Shah Shaheed area of capital Kabul, families of the victims are still in shock and suffering from mental and psychological problems.
The families ask the Taliban not to play with people’s lives in such a brutal way to achieve their goals.
On August 7, 2015 a truck full of explosives was detonated in Shah Shaheed neighborhood, killing 32 people and injuring 400 others, a local representative, Shah Mohammad Zia, told Pajhwok Afghan News,
He said some of the affected families had received cash aid from the government, but the government did not reconstruct buildings damaged by the powerful blast.
He said families of the victims still haunted by bitter memories of the attack and they still suffered from depression and mental problems.
A number of families whose houses were destroyed or their relatives killed in the incident had left the area and did not return to their homes, Zia said.
Mohammad Nasim, 60, who lost a young daughter and two nephews to the truck bombing, said it was a huge blast. He and his family members were still that state of shock despite more than 16 months had passed.
He said his family members were asleep and it was midnight when suddenly a very powerful explosion woke them up and since then they still suffered from mental and psychological problems.
“I received some cash from the government and we spent it on my daughter’s funeral, but the government did not remain committed to reconstructing destroyed areas, so I borrowed some money from others and reconstructed my house,” he said.
Tawab Ghorzang, a spokesman for the National Security Advisor (NSA), said the government had pledged to help the affected families and had distributed some aid to the victims’ families.
Noor Mohammad, 49, another resident of Shah Shaheed area, said the powerful blast shook their home and they all awakened from sleep.
“When the horrific explosion happened, a cupboard and a television set fell over me and seriously injured my leg which was once wounded in an accident in 1989.”
He said his head was hit by the television and he still felt pain despite visiting doctors several times.
“When I see two people fighting or I hear a loud sound, it remembers me the explosion, I put my fingers in my ears and try to go away from the scene, I feel I am in a world of smoke and fire,” he said.
Mohammad said children’s voices in his family also harassed him and he did not know where to go and how to solve his problem.
The war in Afghanistan just offered destruction and deaths since long, he said, asking Taliban militants to stop murdering civilians.
Faridullah, 45, is another person in Shah Shaheed area who has been affected by the attack.
He said his two daughters aged 12 and 16 years were suffering from mental illness since the explosion.
“I took them to several doctors, their illnesses could not be cured, sometimes my daughters get awake at midnight and feel terrified and start crying,” he said.
He said it was not his family alone suffering from such problems, but dozens of other families in the area were in the same situation.
He asked the government to implement its pledges and told the Taliban that their actions just caused mass destruction and killing of innocent people.
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