Is peace possible in Afghanistan? Tales from a country torn apart by war
- 8 years ago
Many Afghan nationals worked with the international forces in Kabul and elsewhere following the September 11 attacks in New York.
In this edition, we give you a number of different tales of interpreters who worked with the French Army and a communications specialist who wishes to stay in Afghanistan.
Haroon’s story
Haroon is 25. He spent four years as a translator for the French army. After a process that will have lasted a year in total, he just received protection from France.
He was expected to make the move in the days following filming.
“I’ll always remember my time working with the soldiers. The memories will stay with me,” Haroon told us.
‘We would have been dead’
But with the sense of camaraderie came danger. He came under fire one day, when accompanying a convoy delivering supplies to a French base.
“For a minute there I thought we were dead because the insurgents were in a precise position on the mountain and we were at the bottom,” he recounted.
“It was really dangerous and everyone was shouting, which scared me a bit. Thankfully we retaliated. We accelerated as we continued the journey and the Afghan Army came to help us. And after that, it was all OK. Otherwise we would have been dead.”
Despite how it may seem, the conflict did not stop with the withdrawal of French forces in 2014. The Taliban rebellion continues and Haroon is considered a traitor.
‘I’m proud to have helped’
“I’m proud to have helped the French military. My responsibility was to work, to help, to cooperate with the French soldiers, NATO and everything else. I’m proud and I don’t regret it.”
But there is a price to pay for this young man. He now has to flee. Before leaving, he celebrates the end of Ramadan with his family.
His uncle, Abdul Kabir, agreed that Afghanistan had “become too dangerous for Haroon to stay.”
Haroon added:
“I don’t have any other choice. My life is at risk. If Afghanistan returns to peace one day, I’ll be able to come back to help rebuild it. But, I don’t know when that will be.”
Najib’s story
Today, Haroon is leaving his family and Afghanistan for the first time. He’s heading to France, where a new life awaits him.
But on the other side of town, Najib is not as lucky. He was working for Omid FM, Radio “Hope,” which was set up by the French Army in the conflict-torn Kapisa Province.
‘We’ll kill you’
Threatened a number of times by the Taliban, he lives a reclusive life with his wife and two children in the Afghan capital. He says he feels like a “prisoner in Kabul” and moves around as discreetly as possible.
“They would tell us ‘you’re all disloyal and if we find and capture you, we’ll kill you. We’ll either decapitate you, or burn you alive.’ They’d call the radio station and tell us that they knew our voices and faces, that they knew where to find us, that we’d never escape them,” he explained.
Najib is far from being the only one in this situation. Of 300 former interpreters who approach
In this edition, we give you a number of different tales of interpreters who worked with the French Army and a communications specialist who wishes to stay in Afghanistan.
Haroon’s story
Haroon is 25. He spent four years as a translator for the French army. After a process that will have lasted a year in total, he just received protection from France.
He was expected to make the move in the days following filming.
“I’ll always remember my time working with the soldiers. The memories will stay with me,” Haroon told us.
‘We would have been dead’
But with the sense of camaraderie came danger. He came under fire one day, when accompanying a convoy delivering supplies to a French base.
“For a minute there I thought we were dead because the insurgents were in a precise position on the mountain and we were at the bottom,” he recounted.
“It was really dangerous and everyone was shouting, which scared me a bit. Thankfully we retaliated. We accelerated as we continued the journey and the Afghan Army came to help us. And after that, it was all OK. Otherwise we would have been dead.”
Despite how it may seem, the conflict did not stop with the withdrawal of French forces in 2014. The Taliban rebellion continues and Haroon is considered a traitor.
‘I’m proud to have helped’
“I’m proud to have helped the French military. My responsibility was to work, to help, to cooperate with the French soldiers, NATO and everything else. I’m proud and I don’t regret it.”
But there is a price to pay for this young man. He now has to flee. Before leaving, he celebrates the end of Ramadan with his family.
His uncle, Abdul Kabir, agreed that Afghanistan had “become too dangerous for Haroon to stay.”
Haroon added:
“I don’t have any other choice. My life is at risk. If Afghanistan returns to peace one day, I’ll be able to come back to help rebuild it. But, I don’t know when that will be.”
Najib’s story
Today, Haroon is leaving his family and Afghanistan for the first time. He’s heading to France, where a new life awaits him.
But on the other side of town, Najib is not as lucky. He was working for Omid FM, Radio “Hope,” which was set up by the French Army in the conflict-torn Kapisa Province.
‘We’ll kill you’
Threatened a number of times by the Taliban, he lives a reclusive life with his wife and two children in the Afghan capital. He says he feels like a “prisoner in Kabul” and moves around as discreetly as possible.
“They would tell us ‘you’re all disloyal and if we find and capture you, we’ll kill you. We’ll either decapitate you, or burn you alive.’ They’d call the radio station and tell us that they knew our voices and faces, that they knew where to find us, that we’d never escape them,” he explained.
Najib is far from being the only one in this situation. Of 300 former interpreters who approach