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Tortured by the Taliban for helping SAS troops: Afghan translator who helped British military was abused with stun gun by captors after going into hiding following US withdrawal

  A former interpreter for UK Special Forces has been captured and tortured by the   Taliban   in   Afghanistan . Wahid, who was trapped in ...

 A former interpreter for UK Special Forces has been captured and tortured by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Wahid, who was trapped in the country when the RAF evacuation ended, is now in fear for his life.

The 34-year-old Afghan said he believed he would be murdered after fighters questioning him searched his phone and found emails applying for relocation to the UK, military certificates showing he had worked for the British and evidence of regular contact with colleagues in Britain.

Former interpreter Wahid, 34, shows the scars of where he was tortured and beaten by the Taliban because of his work for UK forces

Former interpreter Wahid, 34, shows the scars of where he was tortured and beaten by the Taliban because of his work for UK forces

Wahid, who has survived previous Taliban attacks on his home, added: 'They already had intelligence I helped their enemy. 

'They bound my hands and hooded me at one stage, then began to beat me as they asked questions.

'When they did not receive the answers they wanted their men used an electric stick to give me shocks and a stun gun on my neck to cause pain. It was terrifying.'


The ex-interpreter, who has been in hiding since the Operation Pitting rescue flights ended in August, believes he was released only because he had been able to alert his wife and she had gone to tribal elders and the district governor to plead for him to be freed.

The Taliban are said to have stepped up attacks on those who worked for the Coalition or with the Afghan military. 

This newspaper's Betrayal of the Brave campaign has highlighted how another ex-translator was held and beaten for four days, while three more say they narrowly escaped when their homes were raided.

Several former members of Afghan special forces units that fought alongside UK troops have been executed or vanished, according to colleagues.


Wahid said: 'The Taliban said they would be back to question me another time. I am terrified I will not then be as fortunate.'

He added that he had applied for sanctuary in the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) in August before the Taliban took power.

But like thousands of others, including around 200 former interpreters, he is still waiting for a decision on whether he qualifies to relocate with his wife and four children. 

'Our lives are at risk because of our work with British forces who I served bravely and loyally,' said Wahid, who is medically trained.

Pictured: The wounds of another former translator for the UK beaten by the Taliban

Pictured: The wounds of another former translator for the UK beaten by the Taliban

Taliban patrol during a protest by Afghans, outside the building of former US embassy, demanding the US to unfreeze Afghan assets, in Kabul, Afghanistan

Taliban patrol during a protest by Afghans, outside the building of former US embassy, demanding the US to unfreeze Afghan assets, in Kabul, Afghanistan

'The attack on me shows the danger I face, my family faces, and I appeal to the British Government to recognise this.'

Wahid worked with UK forces from 2003-2005 but said he was forced to resign because Taliban fighters in his rural village threatened his family. 

He worked for aid agencies and moved around the country a number of times but in 2017 he was warned of a plot to kill him because he was suspected of spying for the British.

His most recent run-in with the Taliban came after he was captured driving on the outskirts of Kabul. 'It was terrible,' he said.

The Ministry of Defence said: 'The ARAP remains open and work is ongoing to process applications as quickly as possible.

'Since Operation Pitting concluded the RAF has evacuated almost 1,000 more people and we will continue to support those who are eligible for relocation.'

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