Still no justice a year after Afghan hospital massacre

[ritcha filterfar]

It has been a year since Atiqullah Tanha's wife was murdered during a cold-blooded killing spree at a Kabul maternity ward, leaving their twin daughters motherless.

"They cry a lot at night," Tanha told AFP, saying the children are frequently unwell.

"The doctor says mother's milk would have helped prevent most of the health issues."

Even in a war-weary nation already deeply scarred by decades of conflict, the massacre of 16 mothers and mothers-to-be in western Kabul's Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood caused horror.

International groups issued bold statements of condemnation, while Afghan politicians decried the violence and promised justice, though the assault -- which killed 25 in total -- went unclaimed.

But, like with most attacks in Afghanistan, there was little to no follow-up.

Only on Saturday, a series of bombs targeting a school in the same neighbourhood -- which is largely populated by Shiite Hazaras -- killed more than 50 people, most of them schoolgirls.

Few expect authorities to track down the perpetrators of the latest carnage -- or prevent similar massacres in the future.

And those fears are rising as Washington and NATO accelerate the withdrawal of their troops, leaving Afghan government forces to fend for themselves and protect the vulnerable population.

Still, many had hoped the sheer savagery of last year's attack would finally usher in change.

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