Afghan interpreter safe in Tucson

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TUCSON, Arizona (KOLD News 13) –

An Afghan interpreter who has been helping the US armed forces since his youth is safe here in Tucson.

The refugee, whom we can only call “Zabi” for security reasons, is part of the first wave of refugees that arrived in southern Arizona after the US withdrew from Afghanistan.

We first shared Zabi’s story in August when he was waiting with thousands at the gates of Kabul airport, desperate for rescue.

A Navy captain Zabi interpreted for Zabi and Scottsdale immigration attorney Darius Amiri worked day and night coordinating a flight to Qatar for Zabi and his fiancé. From there they flew to New Mexico for refugee resettlement.

“It’s like a movie, like a spy movie or something,” said Amiri. The Rose Law Group attorney met Amiri at the airport and gave him a rolling suitcase full of clothes. Last weekend Zabi settled in an apartment in Tucson.

“I feel safer walking around like nobody is following me or killing me,” said Zabi.

He has moved in with a distant relative who is helping him find a job in the jewelry business. But Zabi has bigger plans: to become a US citizen and then a marine.

“We were on the battlefield together, we were together in good times and bad,” said Zabi.

Like so many Afghan interpreters who help US units, Zabi puts his life on the line every day.

“We expected to step on IEDs, to be ambushed… anything was possible because we were on the battlefield,” said Zabi, “but if US Marines come from another country to help us, why shouldn’t I help my own people then? ”

Now Zabi wishes he could do just that. Like his brothers, he worries about those who are left behind.

“They are waiting for their death, for the day the Taliban break down their door and lead them out to be tortured. You can now do what you want because you have power in Afghanistan, said Zabi. “

He showed a video of his little nephew sharing food with the family cat and said he missed the little boy most of all.

He prays that his entire family will join him, but he is currently working on building a second family in southern Arizona.

Copyright 2021 KOLD News 13. All rights reserved.

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