Afghans grieve for UK taxi driver who tried to rescue family
AN Afghan taxi driver from Aldershot who travelled to Kabul to rescue his family from the worsening chaos is feared to have been killed along with his wife and two of their daughters.
Mohammad Niazi is understood to have been caught up with his family in the suicide attack on Kabul airport which killed as many as 170 people on Thursday, according to the BBC.
The couple’s other daughter and their only son were understood to have been severely injured in the blast.
The reports came after the Foreign Office said two British nationals and the child of another British national were among the victims of the bombing.
Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, said two other Britons were also injured in Thursday’s attack. He said it was “a tragedy that as they sought to bring their loved ones to safety in the UK they were murdered by cowardly terrorists”.
Mr Raab said he was “deeply saddened” by the deaths, adding: “Yesterday’s despicable attack underlines the dangers facing those in Afghanistan and reinforces why we are doing all we can to get people out.
“We will not turn our backs on those who look to us in their hour of need, and we will never be cowed by terrorists.”
Boris Johnson said his thoughts were “very much with their families and their loved ones”, and said that “what their loss really underlines is the urgency of getting on and concluding” the evacuation of Britons and Afghan staff who have worked for the UK.
Mr Niazi is understood to have flown from Heathrow to Azerbaijan and then onto Afghanistan in an attempt to get his wife and four children out of the country to safety.
The Afghan community in Aldershot was last night mourning the brave and dedicated father who did all he could to bring his family to Britain to enjoy a better life.
Imran Naizi, a friend and fellow mosque member, told the Telegraph: “None of us can believe this has happened. It is such a tragedy.
“He flew from Heathrow on Wednesday to make the dangerous journey to pick up his family for a better life here and he has been killed along with them. It’s unbelievable.”
Mr Naizi added: “He came here in 2004 and had been working as a taxi driver. He met his wife back home in 2012 but she was living in Afghanistan with their children because she kept failing her English language test, which was a UK Government requirement before she could come over here.
“When he saw what was happening out there and how it was getting worse and worse he made the decision to fly to Azerbaijan and then to Afghanistan to fly them back here for a better, safer life. But now he is dead, his wife and two daughter are dead and his other daughter and his son are badly injured in hospital.”
Last night, five US servicemen who died in the suicide blast were named by their friends and family.
A US navy medic who was killed was named locally as Max Soviak, who was in his early 20s. Mr Soviak, from Sandusky, Ohio, was one of 13 US service personnel who died in the blast as Joe Biden was warned last night that “the next few days of this mission will be the most dangerous period to date”.
Last night, Mr Soviak’s sister Marilyn posted a photo montage of pictures of her brother on Instagram, saying: “I’ve never been one for politics and I’m not going to start now. What I will say is that my beautiful, intelligent, beat-to-thesound of his own drum, annoying, charming baby brother was killed helping to save lives.
“He was a f------ medic. There to help people. And now he is gone and my family will never be the same.”
Kareem Nikoui, another of the 13 US troops killed, was named by his parents. Mr Nikoui, 20, from California, “loved what he was doing, he always wanted to be a marine”, his father Steve said.
Other victims named were L Cpl Jared Scmitz, from Wentzville, Missouri, Rylee Mccollum, from Bondurant, Wyoming, thought to be 20, and David Lee Espinoza, 20, from Laredo, Texas.
But in an angry rebuke of the President’s actions, Mr Nikoui added: “They sent my son over there as a paper pusher and then had the Taliban outside providing security.
“I blame my own military leaders … Biden turned his back on him.”