When Ahmad Rahman was eight months old he and his sister, Salima, were injured when fighting broke out between Afghan government forces and the Taliban in their village in Logar province. Rahman was shot in the leg, which was later amputated.
His story is one of tens of thousands in Afghanistan, of people losing limbs due to war, but a video of him testing out his new prosthetic leg has provided a moment of joy.
The footage – filmed by physiotherapist Mulkara Rahimi at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) orthopaedic clinic in Kabul – has gone viral, showing a smiling young boy dancing after being fitted with his new leg – his fourth because they need to be replaced as he grows up. It gained more than 12,000 views in the first 12 hours.
The video of Rahman was also shared on social media by the ICRC’s Roya Musawi, and has been viewed more than 980,000 times in her tweet alone.
The ICRC’s clinic has registered almost 178,000 patients with disabilities in Afghanistan, including more than 46,100 amputees, since it started logging the injuries in 1988.
More than a million people in Afghanistan suffer some form of disability, many through injuries from four decades of war.
Of the ICRC patients who have lost limbs, almost two-thirds are due to landmines, improvised explosive devices, and other war remnants.
The video has brought global attention to the centre, its director, Alberto Cairo, told the Washington Post.
