Respected Japanese doctor killed by gunmen in Afghanistan
AN ambush in eastern Afghanistan has killed a Japanese doctor and aid worker who were widely respected and beloved in the war-scarred nation.
The killing of Tetsu Nakamura triggered an outpouring of grief among the people he helped.
The leaders of Japan and Afghanistan expressed their condemnation of the attack, which took the lives of five Afghans as well as Dr Nakamura, including the doctor’s bodyguards, the driver and a passenger.
Dr Nakamura, 73, had worked in the eastern Nangarhar province for more than a decade, taking the lead in water projects in rural areas, which earned him the nickname Uncle Murad for his services to the people.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani awarded him honorary citizenship in April.
Dr Nakamura died of his wounds shortly after gunmen opened fire on his car yesterday morning on a road in Nangarhar.
According to the provincial governor’s spokesman, Attaullah Khogyani, Dr Nakamura was heading to the provincial capital Jalalabad when the attack took place.
He was critically wounded and underwent surgery at a local hospital but died shortly after, while being airlifted to the Bagram airfield hospital in the capital Kabul.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed shock at the killing.
“As a doctor, Mr Nakamura made great contributions in areas of medical care in Afghanistan,” Mr Abe said, stressing that the medic risked his life daily “in a dangerous and intense region”.
Dr Nakamura had headed the Japanese charity Peace Medical Service in Nangarhar since 2008.
He came to Afghanistan after a Japanese colleague, Kazuya Ito, was abducted and killed.
Dr Nakamura was credited with changing a vast stretch in Nangarhar known as Gamber from desert into lush forest and productive farmland.
Mr Ghani’s spokesman Sediq Sediqqi condemned the killing, calling it a “heinous act and a cowardly attack on one of Afghanistan’s greatest friends”.
“Dr Nakamura dedicated his life to changing the lives of Afghans, worked on water management, dams and improvement of traditional agriculture,” Mr Sediqqi added.
No-one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, the second in as many weeks targeting aid workers in Afghanistan.