Double-amputee Afghan troops long for front line
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Clutching his prayer beads, which are painted in the black, red and green of the Afghan flag, Sayed Sibghtullah focuses his silent prayers on the thought of returning to serve in the Afghan National Army.
Every day he wakes up in the Kabul military hospital, the 24-year-old, who has been here almost a month already, hopes his doctors will finally give him the okay to return to duty with his fellow soldiers, battling a vicious Taliban insurgency.
Sibghatullah is an Army medic. He lost both legs to a roadside bomb attack while trying to help his comrades in a remote area of southern Kandahar province.
He wants the government to help him stand once again and serve his country.
"I call upon the government: do not think I'm weak, I will serve even better and I have the desire to serve my country as long as I have one drop of blood in my body," he told CBS News from his hospital bed.
On January 18, Sibghatulah was on foot patrol with his team, patching another soldier's wounds in Khakriz district. Hidden beneath the ground just a few inches from him was a Taliban-planted bomb, which exploded as Sibghatullah walked toward another post where more wounded troops needed his attention.
"Initially, when I heard the boom, I thought it might be a rocket attack," he explains, "But in a few seconds I realized I had stepped on a roadside bomb. Even as I lay bleeding, I was thinking of my fellow soldiers who were wounded in the same bomb."
Roadside bombs, or IEDs, have become enemy No. 1 for Afghan security forces and civilians in recent years. In one recent 48-hour period, 158 of them were discovered and defused by the Afghan army across the country, according to Ministry of Defense spokesman Zahir Azimi.
Sibghatullah, now a double amputee, cannot return to his hometown in Nuristan province; the Taliban would know he lost his legs serving in the Afghan army.
"I cannot go to my village to visit my parents and my family anymore," he told CBS News. "If the Taliban knew that I was in the army, they would simply kill me."
Nasibullah, a 22-year-old Afghan solider (who like many Afghans goes by just one name) also lost both legs when the vehicle he was in hit a roadside bomb.
"Our vehicle was parked over a land mine," he told CBS News. "I climbed on the back of the vehicle to fire with the machine gun. When the driver moved the vehicle, I heard a huge boom and two days later when I opened my eyes I was at the hospital with both legs cut off."
Talking on the phone and rolling around the hospital in his wheelchair, Nasibullah also spoke passionately about returning to his job when he gets out.
"I lost my legs in the way of defending the honor of my country and I don't regret it at all," he said. "I'm happy that I am alive and may God give me more strength to resume my job."
Casualties among the Afghan security forces spiked in 2014 compared to previous years, as U.S.-led NATO forces withdrew and handed over the battleground to their domestic counterparts.
Since the first of January, the Afghan Ministry of Defense says about 1,250 roadside bombs have been discovered and defused. In the same period, 98 of the 101 Afghan soldiers killed were victims of the devices, according to a tally from Ministry of Defense spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi.
As the spring fighting season approaches, Ministry officials expect even higher numbers of casualties in 2015.
"Of course, we expect the casualties figure to be higher this year," said Waziri, "because those bombs which had targeted the foreign forces are now targeting our forces."
Under the new non-combat NATO mission, foreign troops will only officially advise, train and assist the Afghan forces.
Afghanistan's own Army is going to need every soldier at the frontlines it can muster, but in spite of their dedication to the fight, neither Sibghatullah nor Nasibullah will be among the ranks.
Under Afghan Ministry of Defense policy, disabled members of the Army receive a lifetime salary, but they are not permitted to return to active duty.