Second Pakistani prisoner dies of Covid-19 at Bagram jail

PESHAWAR: The second Pakistani prisoner in Afghanistan has died due to Covid-19 in the Bagram prison while others are in a bad shape after contracting the disease.

Some of the Pakistani inmates at the Bagram prison located north of Kabul contacted The News to convey the news that a young prisoner, 16-year old Waseem Khan, son of Naseem Khan, belonging to the Mullagori area close to Warsak Road, Peshawar had passed away two days ago after suffering from coronavirus. They said Waseem Khan had earlier been sentenced to 30 years in prison and tortured at the prison. They added that Waseem Khan’s body was being transported to Peshawar. Meanwhile, the Pakistani prisoners informed that another inmate, Ilyas, belonging to Punjab province had also contracted coronavirus but had now recovered. However, they said Ilyas later became insane and is in a miserable condition at the prison. They added that yet another Pakistani prisoner, Habibullah hailing from Gujranwala in Punjab had been shifted to the prison’s hospital after contracting coronavirus. The prisoners, who are mostly Pakistani Taliban now in custody of the Afghan government, complained of poor living conditions at the Bagram prison and lack of proper medical care. Some of them had escaped to Afghanistan after the military operations by Pakistan’s security forces in erstwhile Fata and Malakand division. Others had fought alongside the Afghan Taliban in Afghanistan and were captured. The Pakistani prisoners had claimed last week that one of their colleagues, 43-year old Nisar Ahmad son of Wazir Rahman, died of coronavirus at the Bagram prison. He was captured in 2013 and originally belonged to Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal district. According to Pakistani prisoners, as many as 170 inmates including Afghans and Pakistanis at the Bagram jail had contracted coronavirus as the virus was spreading due to overcrowding and lack of proper medical care.