At the only functioning criminal forensic laboratory in Afghanistan, a team of four molecular biologists juggle hundreds of cases a week, including cases of rape, drug overdoses, homicide and bombings.
When a suicide bomber targeted a wedding hall in the Afghan capital last week, killing at least 80 people, many of the bodies were brought to a dilapidated two-story block on the perimeter of Kabul.criminal forensic laboratory in Afghanistan, where a team of four molecular biologists juggles hundreds of cases a week, including victims of rape, drug overdoses, homicide,The small department has basic facilities and 30-year-old equipment, and no DNA testing capability. After the Aug.
The department opened 38 years ago as a small office inside Kabul University. Its purpose was to promote rule of law and the professionalism of the police, said Farid Ullah Rahiq, who joined four years ago as the director. “We don’t have the specialists to fix it, we don’t have enough forensic DNA specialists to operate it, and we don’t have the access codes to activate the working equipment,” he said.
The scientists share a single specialized microscope, the only one of its kind in the country, a gift from Germany when the lab opened nearly four decades ago.Shirzad specializes in cold cases. He recently worked on the case of a woman who died about five years ago. Police treated the case as a rape and homicide and identified a suspect: the brother of two women who were at the scene where the woman’s body was found.
Unlike in many countries, the forensic specialists are barred from crime scenes, meaning evidence is damaged or can be tampered with before it reaches them, particularly in cases where police or government officials are among the accused.
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