Excerpt:
His disability didn't come as a surprise. As the insurgency in Afghanistan gathers urgency, the Taliban and other forces are recruiting marginalized and vulnerable groups to carry out suicide attacks while men from their own ranks keep up the ground offensive.
The pool of the disenchanted and hopeless is large in Afghanistan -- people left on the fringes by their economic, physical or mental circumstances -- and there are few services to rehabilitate them after three decades of war.
"Almost 90 per cent of [suicide bombers] are people with some form of disability," forensic expert Yusuf Yadgari said.
Every bomber's body in Kabul-based attacks passes through Dr. Yadgari's morgue. He has so far detected such disabilities as muscular dystrophy, amputated toes, blindness, skin diseases and signs of mental illness in the bodies of suicide bombers.
Although no statistics are available, anecdotal evidence increasingly backs up Dr. Yadgari's observations. Security experts argue that the Taliban seek out the disaffected, the poor and the marginalized, a group that certainly would include a majority of the disabled. And non-governmental organizations say reports of disabled people being trained as suicide bombers, although unproven, are common.
"One reason why people entertain the idea is there is complete loss of hope in being able to live a normal life," said Firoz Ali Alizada, who lost his legs to a land mine and now uses artificial legs and crutches.
"In a culture like ours, disability and the possibility of being out on the street are equated with great shame. A man who is married and has children is suddenly incapable of supporting and feeding his family. ... He might find it easier to die."
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