Following a bomb blast in the capital of Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan on 10 December, MSF treated fourteen patients in the organization’s surgical hospital.

The explosion occurred close to a market in central Kunduz around noon today. MSF teams treated patients with blast-related injuries, including severe internal wounds, bleeding and burns.

“Patients started arriving at our hospital within five minutes of the blast. Two people were severely injured and needed immediate surgery, the rest of the patients were stabilised,” said Erwin Guillergan, MSF coordinator at the Kunduz surgical hospital.

Since August 2011, MSF has been running a surgical hospital in Kunduz that provides urgent surgical care and follow-up treatment for people wounded in the conflict, and those suffering from life-threatening injuries.

Hundreds of patients have been treated in the hospital since it opened.

In all locations where MSF is working in Afghanistan, a strict no-weapons policy is implemented to ensure patient safety and security.

MSF teams also work in Ahmed Shah Baba Hospital in Kabul and Boost Hospital in Helmand province’s capital Lashkar Gah. In both locations, MSF provides free medical care, working in all wards of the hospitals.

MSF plans to open a maternity hospital in Khost province in early 2012.

For its work in Afghanistan, MSF relies solely on private donations, and does not accept any government funding.