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'General Suhaila': Afghanistan's Surgeon And First Female General Dies At 72

General Suhaila Siddiq was a famous surgeon and Afghanistan's only female lieutenant general; defying traditional gender roles in Afghanistan.

Khushi Gupta

05 Dec 2020 00:00 IST

Updated On 05 Dec 2020 12:31 IST

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General Suhaila Siddiq was a famous surgeon. Suhaila Siddiq was Afghanistan's only female lieutenant general and only a few number of women hold a ministerial post in that country. She defied the traditional gender norms in Afghanistan. On Friday, she died in hospital at the age of 72. She had Alzheimer's disease for almost six years.

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Abdullah Abdullah who was a former prime minister and foreign minister expressed his condolences and said that her role in creating a place for women in the fields of medicine, military and in wider society had been "commendable and undeniable".

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Suhaila Siddiq was born in the year 1948 in Kabul, Afghanistan to a very wealthy family. She studied medicine in the city. However, she completed her medical training in Moscow and later returned to Afghanistan to work as a doctor.

Siddiq's name first came to light during the Soviet era, when she was awarded the title of general by the pro-Moscow government. Soon after, Siddiq became widely known in Afghanistan by the name "General Suhaila", and she built a reputation as the country's most respected surgeon.

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She was seen spending most of the time of her career in Kabul's 400-bed military hospital, where her abdominal surgery helped in saving hundreds of lives.

She also played a vital role in keeping the hospital working in the 1990s.

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In an interview with BBC last year, her former colleague and student Dr Yaqoob Noorzai said that she would regularly distribute her salary among the workers who were in a dire need in the hospital.

He said," She was a serious defender of the rights of her colleagues."

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Khushi Gupta is an intern with SheThePeople.TV

First woman surgeon general General Suhaila Siddiq Suhaila Siddiq Surgeon Suhaila Siddiq

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