WITH shaved heads, oversized tunics and the terrified gaze of the hunted, the drug addicts rounded up by the Taliban brace for 45 days of painful withdrawal.
For some, the hard-liners’ raids may potentially help them cast off the yoke of addiction.
Yet for many the stay at Kabul’s Ibn Sina centre will just mark a short change of scene, marked by a brutal approach to forcing users off their powerful dependence.
Before the Taliban marched into Kabul on August 15, police in the capital would sometimes arrest addicts and transfer them to the centre.
However, since the hardline Islamists took control, the frequency of raids on areas where addicts gather appears to have increased. – October 22, 2021.
A member of the Taliban detains a drug addict under a bridge where hundreds of addicts gather, in Kabul. - AFP pic, October 22, 2021.This picture shows drug addicts waiting to register at the Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment in Kabul. With shaved heads, oversized tunics and the frightened gaze of hunted animals, the drug addicts rounded up by the Taliban brace for 45 days of painful and anxiety-ridden withdrawal. - AFP pic, October 22, 2021.A drug addict (right) getting his head shaved in the detoxification ward of the Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment in Kabul. - AFP pic, October 22, 2021.Drug addicts waiting to take a shower in the detoxification ward of the Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment in Kabul. - AFP pic, October 22, 2021.Drug addicts waiting to be checked by officers after their detention at the Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment in Kabul. - AFP pic, October 22, 2021.Members of the Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment trying to convince a man to go into a detoxification treatment in Kabul. - AFP pic, October 22, 2021.Drug users consuming drugs under a bridge where hundreds of addicts gather, in Kabul. - AFP pic, October 22, 2021.A drug user sleeping under a bridge where hundreds of addicts gather, in Kabul. - AFP pic, October 22, 2021.A drug addict sitting on his bed in the detoxification ward of the Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment in Kabul. - AFP pic, October 22, 2021.
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