Iraq’s Doctors Face Threats of Violence
A breakdown in public order in the wake of Iraq’s fight against Islamic State is exposing the country’s doctors to revenge attacks from grieving families, powerful tribes and militia leaders. Doctors in some of the busiest emergency wards say shouting matches and even fistfights between doctors and patients’ families and comrades happen several times a […]Matt Bradley writes for The Wall Street Journal:
A breakdown in public order in the wake of Iraq’s fight against Islamic State is exposing the country’s doctors to revenge attacks from grieving families, powerful tribes and militia leaders.
Doctors in some of the busiest emergency wards say shouting matches and even fistfights between doctors and patients’ families and comrades happen several times a day, while security services do little to intervene.
The unchecked attacks, which are happening during one of the most violent periods in Iraq’s recent history, are prompting some doctors to depart the country even as it suffers from a shortage of medical professionals. The void they leave is likely to last long after Islamic State militants are driven from Iraqi territory and the militias that combat them are sidelined.
