KABUL (SW) – Nazar Mohammad was commander of the popular uprising forces in Faryab for years before fleeing to Turkey to apply for asylum.
After losing a number of his family members to the Taliban insurgents, Nazar told Salam Watandar he had no option, but to flee. He is now an immigrant in Turkey. Sharing his ordeal, Nazar said several members of his family, including his brothers, were killed by the Taliban and his house was set on fire.
He added that when he fought the Taliban on the battlefield, he was constantly forced by the enemy to leave his duty and stay away from the area he had secured. Finally, in 2016, the Taliban attacked the checkpoint Nazar was supervising, and killed a number of soldiers under his command, and he himself was severely wounded in a face-to-face battle with the Taliban.
During this long battle Nazar sustained multiple wounds. According to him, the local administration and the central government took no actions to save him and his soldiers from the siege. After a six-hour siege in a wounded position under Taliban fire, he finally got in touch with a friend and escaped from the battlefield with his help.
Nazar Mohammad was treated at Maymana public hospital, the capital of Faryab province, for some time, but according to him, he was threatened with death at the hospital, which forced him to leave for Kabul for treatment. Nazar Mohammad said that doctors decide to amputate both of his hands due to the severity of his wounds, but his friends and relatives who were in Turkey contacted Turkish doctors and he was transferred to Turkey for immediate treatment.
Now, that Nazar Mohammad’s hands are healed. Turkish doctors have asked him not work hard.
Nazar Mohammad, father of eight, said his daily income is hardly sufficient to make ends meet, and he cannot afford school and other expenses for his children whom he left behind in Afghanistan.
He has been seeking asylum for years and is living with a Turkish government ID card. Nazar Mohammad said that he has been deprived of the right to go to Europe and that he will not be able to return to his homeland Afghanistan either. “There are a lot of problems, I cannot go to Europe, I cannot go to Asia, I just came here and got stuck”.
This Afghan refugee said he has not received any assistance from the Turkish government or the Refugee Agency for a year now.
This security officer, who has spent more than 20 years defending his homeland and supporting the Afghan government, said he has sold a piece of land inherited from his father since the Turkish government and the Refugee Agency cut off aid.
On top of this, the coronavirus pandemic has made life miserable for Afghan refugees like Nazar Mohammad in Turkey.
ENDS
