Najmuddin Suhrabi, a doctor at a clinic in Dara-e-Suf Bala district in Samangan province in central Afghanistan was shot dead in an attack on his home by at least four unknown gunmen with hunting rifles.
The incident happened after midnight on Friday at the doctor’s home in Dara-e-Suf district.
Suhrabi had worked at the clinic, the only one in the district, for seven years. Residents said he treated people under the most difficult of conditions.
“Two people who had hunting rifles entered the room and when I wanted to wake him up, they put the gun to my head and said I will be killed if I shout. The second person killed the doctor,” said his wife, who asked not to be named.
Suhrabi had been to his uncle’s house on Friday and then to the district’s religious school for prayers before returning home in the evening, said his wife.
“Shortly after that, the cruel people came and took my husband from me,” she said.
“Dr Suhrabi came to our house on Friday and when he was leaving, he told me that he wanted to go for prayers first. He was murdered when he went home,” his uncle said.
Suhrabi is survived by his daughter and two sons.
His relatives described him as a kind person who treated his patients well.
“He treated all of us very well and had no enmity with anyone,” one of his relatives, Ahmad, said.
According to them, armed robbers stole his belongings from his home last year but no one was arrested in connection with the robbery.
An Afghan politician in exile, Mohammad Mohaqeq, said in a social media post that Suhrabi was head of the Dara-e-Suf’s 30-bed hospital and was killed in a “terrorist attack” on his home by four attackers.
He said Suhrabi was among few who did not leave the area and the country after the fall of the previous government.
Mohaqeq claimed that the Taliban has increased pressure on local residents in Dara-e-Suf district in Samangan by collecting money from the people instead of weapons and this has led to forced migrations of residents.
This comes as the country’s health system is under severe pressure due to the lack of donor support and a sharp decrease in the number of health workers who have left the country over the past 18 months following the Taliban takeover.
