‘Betrayed’: The Afghan interpreters abandoned by the US
Al JazeeraHundreds of Afghans who risked their lives to assist the US military with interpreting and other services have found themselves abandoned as the US pulls out of Afghanistan. Twelve days later, Ameen discovered the headless corpse of his brother in front of the family farmhouse, with a note attached to his clothes: “Do not work with infidels any more.” Now, the US military is pulling out of Afghanistan and is expected to be gone by September 11 this year – the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that led to the war in Afghanistan. With a grim smile on his face, he says: “We are left on our own; the US military had to leave one day.” ‘Summer had arrived finally’ Ameen was a young boy when his father was killed during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Earlier this year, when the US and the British embassies advised their citizens not to travel to Afghanistan, Zabiullah says, “I felt a sudden chill and I believe it’s only a matter of time now before the Taliban penetrate the alleys in Kabul and start to hunt us all down.” He fears that a similar fate as that of Shakhidad may befall him. While Zabiullah’s employment verification certificate, seen by Al Jazeera, says he served the US armed forces “with distinction”, the same US government contractor which employed him terminated his contract in 2012 and rendered him “security ineligible” – a decision that ultimately places him under suspicion.
History of this topic
Afghan interpreter lands in US with worries about family left behind as Taliban go hunting
India Today
As the US leaves Afghanistan, it must fulfill its obligation to interpreters
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