E.R. For The War-Torn

Gino Strada is bracing for a busy winter in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley. The Italian surgeon runs Emergency, which operates the only fully equipped hospital in the region dominated by the Northern Alliance. As part of his group's aid work, the Milan native, 53, recently brought the first electric lights to the village of Anaba. But now he is preparing for war, trying to keep the facility's 70 beds clear for the wounded, who have already begun showing up at Emergency's six first-aid posts on the front line.

Strada's staff knows what to expect. Although it includes a handful of foreign...

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