Victim’s Name: Adel Shah
Date of Incident: April 23, 2016
Place of Incident: Macroyan 3, Kabul
My name is Kabal Shah and I am 50 years old. I work as a hairdresser in the barbershop my father opened a few decades ago. Adel Shah was my youngest brother. We could not afford sending him to school so he started working in our shop from early childhood to help us make a living. Recently, he was working as a hairdresser at another barbershop in Macroyan 3. On April 23, 2016, I was working when a huge explosion occurred. I told my younger brother, Sulaiman, to call Adel Shah and make sure he is fine. After a few rings, a staff of Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital picked his phone and told us that the owner of the shop had been killed in the suicide attack.
We were shocked and did not know what to do. I rushed to the Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital and started looking for him. It was difficult to identify him because his face had been burned and was covered in blood. He was only 26 years old when he was killed. Despite his little income, he worked hard to help our family. He was an honest, warmhearted, and hardworking person which is why everyone among the family and relatives loved him. He was particularly kind and friendly with me and my mother. The ambulance driver that brought his body asked for Adel Shah’s newly bought shoes so I donated them to the driver.
Adel Shah’s Mother’s Narrative:
After my early morning prayers, I woke my sons Sulaiman and Adel Shah to do their prayers. A little later, Adel Shah asked me about time. It was 6 o’clock so he rushed to open his shop. When I asked for some money to cover home expenses, he gave me the 50 AFN (80 cents) he had. He left home and returned dead just a few hours later. Adel Shah was not the only victim of the continuous violence in Afghanistan. Two of my other family members were killed in a mine explosion a few years ago and seven others during the Civil War when our home was destroyed by a rocket that the militia men had fired. Later, my two daughters died due to severe injuries and my son Kabal Shah lost one of his legs during that incident. When Kabel Shah’s elder brother was killed, his father could not bear and had a heart attack a year later. In total, I have lost 15 family members in different violent incidents. Now my disabled son, Kabal Shah and I have to protect and feed their orphans. We have to bear all the problems and do everything to find just a loaf of bread to feed these starving children of the war.
