WASHINGTON (Khaama Press): Nasrat Ahmad Yar, an Afghan who worked with the US military in Afghanistan for most of his adult life, had been shot and killed in Washington, an official said.
Ahmad Yar was a ride-share driver who fled to the US for a better life for himself and his family.
He went out driving because he was worried about paying his rent before being shot and killed on Monday night.
Although no suspects have been arrested, security footage shows four young men rushing away and the sound of a single gunshot.
A $25,000 reward has been offered by the police for information that results in an arrest.
“He was so generous. He was so nice. He was always trying to help the people,” said Rahim Amini, a fellow Afghan immigrant and longtime friend.
He said Ahmad Yar always reminded him, “Do not forget the people left behind.”
Ahmad Yar’s charity also impressed Jeramie Malone, an American who met him through her volunteer work with a veteran-founded organisation that rescues former Afghan interpreters.
“He always wanted to give more than he was receiving, and he was extremely kind.” In America, Malone said, “All he wanted was a chance.”
Since 2009, the United States has offered Special Immigrant Visas to Afghans who cooperated closely with the American administration to immigrate to the country; however, according to Amini, his friend preferred to remain in Afghanistan, where he felt needed, rather than immediately apply.
He remembered Ahmad Yar saying: “I have guys here I need to support. … When I feel that they do not need my support, then I can go to America.”
The Taliban then assumed control of Afghanistan after the United States withdrew in August 2021.
Ahmad Yar’s cousin Mohammad Ahmadi, who had previously served in the American military, was already in the country. The two discussed evacuating Ahmad Yar’s family from Afghanistan on the phone. According to Ahmadi, his cousin was concerned that the Taliban soldiers he could see in the streets of Kabul would learn that he had been an interpreter for the American forces.
“He said, ‘I do not want to get killed in front of my wife and kids,’” Ahmadi recalled. Ahmad Yar travelled to northern Afghanistan to enter Uzbekistan after he could not leave the crowded Kabul airport. When that failed, he and his family travelled to Mazar-e-Sharif in the northwest, where they could board a flight to the United Arab Emirates and eventually make their way to America.
“Nasrat was very different because even though he needed help, he was always helping me,” Malone said.
While waiting at the interim transit camp in the United Arab Emirates, he asked for writing supplies for the children to teach those English before they arrived in the U.S., Malone said. “It was really important for him for his kids to get an education and for them to … have opportunities they never would have had in Afghanistan.”
His eldest child, a girl, is now 13 years old, and his other children, boys aged 11, 8, and 15 months, are all boys.
Murders and carjacking are the leading causes of Washington’s constantly rising crime rates, which have proven challenging to control. When compared to this time last year, homicides are up 14%. Police reported that nine people participating in the Fourth of July celebrations were shot and injured early on Wednesday.
Ahmad Yar will be laid to rest on Saturday. His wife is still in shock, said Ahmad Yar’s cousin, Ahmadi. However, she said she and her husband had the same goal in coming to America — to provide a future for their children.
She told Ahmadi: “I have the same goal for my children. They can go to school. They can attend college and become educated and good people for society.”
