Boris, please do not leave us all to die
A TRAPPED Afghan translator who saved a British soldier’s life said last night: “Our blood will be on Boris Johnson’s hands if anything happens to us or our families.”
The 31-year-old father of four – who we are not naming for his own safety – repeatedly risked his life to help the British Army back in 2002, carrying an injured serviceman to safety after an IED blast and bringing the bodies of fallen veterans back to base.
But he didn’t make it on to an evacuation flight out of Kabul before the final planes left yesterday – and now fears the
Taliban will kill him for collaborating with coalition forces.
Earlier this week, he claims he was beaten at the airport by three Taliban soldiers, who also fired a gun at his wife and children.
Addressing PM Boris Johnson directly, he said: “Please do not leave us at the mercy of the Taliban. They are not human. We saved your soldiers on the front line. Now you have to do the same for us. If a person has done everything for you, supported and protected you, how would you feel if you were left for the enemy?”
The translator is now in hiding in Kabul and has all but given up hope of finding sanctuary in the UK.
“I fear for my life and my family’s lives,” he said. “What if I get arrested? If they kill me, what will happen to my children?
“Every night, my daughter asks, ‘When are we going to the UK? When will your friends help you?’ It makes me cry. I can’t tell her, ‘They are not taking us, they are not paying attention to us’. There are no words.”
The man signed up to help British forces in 2009 and worked with them over five years.
He said: “I never believed the Taliban would be in power again in my life. I wanted freedom for the people of Afghanistan. Before 2001, the Taliban beat people like animals. We have just gone back 20 years.”
A government spokesman said the
Ministry of Defence could not discuss individual cases, adding: “It is with deep regret that not everyone has been able to be evacuated during this process. We will do all we can to ensure they reach safety.”