KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Muhammad Anwar, 8, was vomiting all night and had severe diarrhea. His father, Hajji Aslam, did not know what to do.

Most, and perhaps all, of the clinics in Oruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan are shut, including the one in their village, Shawali Karez. The province remains largely controlled by the Taliban, who are tightening their noose around the provincial capital, Tirin Kot.

So Mr. Aslam carried his barely conscious child in his arms, hitchhiked on the back of a tractor and arrived on Saturday in Tirin Kot at the gates of the only hospital said to be still open. The 100-bed facility is just down the road from the provincial administrative offices.

But the gates of that hospital, too, were shut. A crowd of people waited in vain.

“I brought him from my village to the central hospital expecting treatment, but found it closed and the reason they said that is the Taliban are threatening them,” Mr. Aslam said. “Maybe God does not like our deeds and that is why we are put through such misery and suffering.”