Hospital chains addicts to wall

The drug rehabilitation wing at Kabul's psychiatric hospital reveals itself with an audible clue: "chink, chink" - pause - "chink, chink". It is the sound of Abdul Khalq's shackles dragging on the ground as he shuffles about, vainly trying to escape the agony of opium withdrawal.

Wrapped in a shawl, 24-year-old Abdul stops every few feet, then arches his back, throws himself forward, doubles up and squats. He's on day four of "cold turkey" and the painkillers he's been given by a nurse are having little effect.

Afghanistan is the world's second largest producer of raw opium and, after 24 years of civil war, cheap opium has become a refuge from an everyday hell.

Dr Said Aura, director of the psychiatric wing of the hospital, said: "There are more and more drug addicts every year. Many are not young irresponsible people, but breadwinners. That means their families suffer from lack of food while the addicts feed their habit." Abdul, from Ghazni, about 60 miles south of Kabul, was introduced to drugs when he was jailed by the Taliban on suspicion of supporting the Northern Alliance. "They tortured me. There was so much pain," he said through clenched teeth.

His brother, Khaled, brought him in to be "cleaned up". The treatment is simple and, according to nurse Ahmed Shah, effective. For the first few days the patients are shackled to stop them running away into the city. "They have a bad time and suffer a lot, but after about two weeks they are usually able to leave," said Mr Shah.

The clinic was closed between 1996 and early this month when the Taliban, which regarded addicts as criminals, controlled Kabul. But Afghans are now waking up to the danger which opium and heroin pose to their own society.

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Hospital chains addicts to wall