Family on run after Taliban death threats
INTERPETER SAYS HOME HAS BEEN SHOT AT AND HIS RELATIVES HAVE GONE INTO HIDING
THE family of a man who worked as an adviser and interpreter in Afghanistan are in hiding after their home was shot at by Taliban forces.
The man, who wishes not to be named to help safeguard his relatives and is living in Leicester, said his sister and father-in-law are on the run after receiving threats.
The 36-year-old said he was deployed back to Afghanistan after seeking asylum in the UK in 2001.
“It was time for me to pay my debt to this country and support Afghanistan against terror networks,” he said.
A speaker of several languages, he became a “community interpreter” and cultural adviser to the British forces, Nato and the UK government.
Having also worked alongside senior American officials, he said he has been seeking a way out for his family to either America or the UK – or anywhere else – but with no luck so far.
“My family have been targeted and they can’t go back to their home,” he said.
“The house has been shot at, but luckily they had left their home prior to the attack and they’re having to move to different locations.”
Two of his brothers and a brotherin-law also worked as interpreters and advisers with Nato.
The man said: “It’s not a matter now of if they will be killed, it’s a matter of when.”
His brother-in-law, who was working for the Afghan government, was sent a letter of warning by the Taliban while his father-in-law has already been shot, but survived.
The man said he and his wife have been speaking to them via a mobile phone whenever possible.
“They are just waiting for an update from us about when they can get out,” he said. His sister, also stuck in Afghanistan, was a TV presenter and is also at risk.
“While I was out there I was treated as one of this country’s own and believed I was,” the interpreter said.
“We had our lives at stake out
there and now our families are still there.”
Speaking in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister said the government “will do absolutely everything [it] can” to give those who are eligible a safe passage out of Afghanistan.