Doctors Lecture on Conditions In War-Ravaged Afghanistan

Two French doctors who spent the last three years in treating wounded guerrilla fighters in Afghanistan spoke at Harvard last night one of the first times that witnesses of the war have lectured in the United States.

Before about 75 people in Boylston Hall but and fielded questions.

The talk and slide presentation were planned to spread information about the war in Afghanistan and to help raise funds to treat wounded civilians and combatants.

The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 but has been unable to establish control because of strong native guerrilla resistance.

"The strategy of the Russians is to empty the country, not to control it," Mathey said. "You can travel for miles without seeing anyone. They put mines everywhere just to frighten the people."

Over the part four years, Mathey said, three million people-or 25 percent of the Afghan population-have been forced from their homeland. He called the exodus the greatest number of refugees anywhere since World War II.

"It is still possible to help the Afghans Laumotrier said. In France people help through private aid, but in the United States the people expect the government to give the support.

The doctors said they spent must of their time working in clandestine hospitals in the countryside treating civilian non-combatants. Many of the wounded were children who accidentally stepped on mines, Mathey said.

The doctors said they also trained local physicians during their stay in Afghanistan.

The doctors had a third companion in Afghanistan-Dr. Philip Augoyard-but Augoyard was captured by the Russians charged with being a CIA spy and sentenced to eight years in prison.

The doctors were sponsored by Aide Medical Internationale, a privately supported French organization that sends doctors to war or disaster areas. Support of Solidarity, a human-rights movement which includes several Harvard students, also sponsored the presentation.

Other recent Afghanistan-related events at Harvard have included a seminar on Afghan refugees at the Russian Research Center. In March, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies will hold a seminar on women in Afghanistan.