Lashkar Gah's Emergency Hospital Treats the Wounds of War on All Sides

Emergency, an international nongovernmental organization, was founded in Afghanistan in 1999 by the war surgeon Dr. Gino Strada, a divisive figure in his native Italy for his vehemently anti-war views. It has a simple mandate: to provide free, first-class health care to war victims, regardless of who they are.

Up to 50,000 civilians, government forces and Taliban are thought to have been killed or injured in Afghanistan last year, and this year is expected to be worse. Emergency hospital in Lashkar Gah is expanding from 90 to 103 beds to meet the demand.

"We have this romantic way to describe war, because we're used to TV, movies, video games," says Luca Radaelli, Emergency's program coordinator in Afghanistan. People who get shot in a war movie "die from one bullet peacefully, like a hero. It's bullshit." Chiara Lodi, an Italian with lavender-dyed hair, tattoos and a tongue piercing, had a similarly blunt assessment. "This war is stupid," she says. "[Afghans] are growing up learning that to solve conflict, they have to fight. Because of that, I'm here."

The photographs above portray a hospital committed to treating patients suffering the most brutal wounds of war, whether they be civilians, soldiers or members of the Taliban.