‘Betrayed’: The Afghan interpreters abandoned by the US

Hundreds of Afghans who assisted the US military with interpreting have found themselves abandoned.

Kabul, Afghanistan – Ameen* remembers the summer day in early 2009 when his young children and nephews were playing in the lush green field beside the family farm in Khost province as he watched over them. He had returned from Kabul for a short visit to help his younger brother on the farm, which was struggling financially. The two men were working together close to where the children were playing. Suddenly, a car pulled over, and one of the occupants started firing at them all with an assault rifle. Ameen says he had only a split second to drag the children to the ground and then run to get a weapon. By the time he returned with a gun, the Taliban had already left and had taken his younger brother with them. For days afterwards, Ameen sought the help of the village elders to convince the Taliban that, while he had worked as a translator for the US army from mid-2004 to mid-2007, he was no longer doing so. But the Taliban would not accept their pleas. They wanted to make an example of those working with the “infidels”.