Afghan interpreter who escaped Taliban shot dead in US gun violence

A former Afghan interpreter for the occupying US forces in Afghanistan has been shot dead in Washington DC's gun violence while working as a rideshare driver after fleeing his country following the Taliban takeover.

Shortly after midnight on July 3, the 31-year-old Afghan, identified as Nusrat Ahmad Yar -- a father of four children -- was shot to death in a neighborhood in northeast Washington, DC.

He was transporting four Americans at dawn when he was shot by one of the passengers.

Video footage from near the crime scene shows the suspects running away after shooting Ahmad Yar.

Officers who arrived at the scene found Ahmadyar inside a vehicle with at least one gunshot wound in his stomach, police said. The victim was taken to a hospital, but was pronounced dead “after all life-saving efforts failed.”

A $25,000 reward is available to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the suspects.

Ahmad Yar had risked his life working for US Special Forces in Afghanistan for a decade, and after the Taliban takeover in 2021, he made it to the US using a special visa for those who worked for the US military.

His friend Rahim Amini told Al Jazeera that Ahmad Yar wished to live safely with his wife and children aged 13, 11, 8, and 15 months, and make money and prosper.

MG