Kunduz Trauma Center

Videos and Photos31 May 2016

In the trauma center's intensive care unit, an MSF team works to revive a patient who suffered head trauma in a motorbike accident. February 2014. Photo: Mikhail Galustov

Physical therapy at the trauma center. Muhammad Fazal, a farmer from Pol-e-Charhi, had his leg amputated after a gunshot injury. Here, MSF health workers demonstrate simple exercises for Muhammad to perform during his recovery. February 2014. Photo: Mikhail Galustov

An MSF staff member tends to a female patient in the trauma center's outpatient department. February 2014. Photo: Mikhail Galustov

Patients wait for appointments outside the outpatient department at the trauma center. February, 2014. Photo: Mikhail Galustov

Patients and their caretakers in the triage room of the trauma center. February, 2014. Photo: Mikhail Galustov

Five-year-old Benafsha plays with Isaline Pierreux, an MSF physiotherapist, in the physiotherapy room at the trauma center. Benafsha's right arm was amputated after a local healer applied the wrong treatment to her fractured collarbone, tying her arm with a strong bandage that limited blood circulation for days. February 2014. Photo: Mikhail Galustov

The front gate at the MSF trauma center in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan. The MSF hospital opened in August 2011, to provide surgical care and physical therapy. It was the only trauma center of its kind in the region. November 29, 2011. Photo: Michael Goldfarb

A man rests with his son as he recovers at the trauma hospital. February, 2012. Photo: Michael Goldfarb/MSF

An MSF physiotherapist assists a 15-year-old boy in the trauma center's intensive care unit. This young patient underwent an emergency laparotomy the previous night after suffering a complete bowel obstruction due to a previous traumatic injury. November, 2011. Photo: Michael Goldfarb

MSF surgeon Dr. Martin John Jarmin III (right) operates on a 20-year-old man at the trauma center. The man suffered a gunshot wound to the lower chest and upper abdomen and required extensive exploratory surgery, during which a large section of his bowel was removed. December, 2011. Photo: Michael Goldfarb/MSF

Fourteen-year-old Najiba was at home when a rocket fell on her family's house. The roof collapsed, trapping her beneath the rubble. Neighbors found her and brought her to the MSF trauma center, where she underwent two surgeries and remained in the intensive care unit for ten days. May 2015. Photo: MSF

Opened in August 2011, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) trauma center in Kunduz, Afghanistan, was the only facility of its kind in the region, providing free life- and limb-saving medical care to tens of thousands of people. In 2014, more than 22,000 patients received care at the hospital, and more than 5,900 surgeries were performed.

The facility experienced a surge of patients in recent weeks as fighting between government and opposition forces engulfed Kunduz, with 337 people—39 children among them—receiving treatment from September 28 to October 2 alone. On October 3, the trauma center was destroyed by a US airstrike that killed 22 patients and MSF staff.