Interpreter for US special forces in Afghanistan killed working as rideshare driver in DC

A father of four who worked as an interpreter for U.S. special forces in Afghanistan for a decade became a casualty of D.C.’s gun violence earlier this week.

Nasrat Ahmadyar was shot to death on 11^th Street NE while working as a rideshare driver.

Ahmadyar risked his life working with U.S. special forces in Afghanistan.

“He was alongside shoulder-to-shoulder helping American soldiers,” said his cousin Mohammad Ahmadi. 

After U.S. forces pulled out, Ahmadyar went on the run but eventually made it out to America. 

“Then he came here. He was so happy,” said his best friend, Rahim Amini.

Ahmadyar started his life in the U.S. in Philadelphia but felt it was too dangerous, so he moved to Northern Virginia.

“He came to America to be safe, but his dream was really for his kids,” said Jeramie Malone, who helps special visa holders from Afghanistan resettle in the U.S. “He always said he wanted them to have a good education. He wanted them to have opportunities.”

Ahmadyar and his best friend, another former interpreter, bought cars and became rideshare drivers.

Ahmadyar was generous to a fault, always sending money back to those struggling in Afghanistan, friends said.

“He was very willing to share whatever he had,” Malone said.

He was driving just after midnight early Monday because he was behind on rent, friends said. 

“That’s why he was driving that night was because he needed to make a little bit of extra money to catch up,” Malone said. 

A security camera caught the gunshot that ended Ahmadyar’s American dream. As four people fled, one shouted, “You killed him.”

Ahmadyar was found next to his SUV in the 400 block of 11th Street NE and was pronounced dead on the scene from a gunshot to his stomach. 

“I was in shock, and the whole family, everyone’s in shock,” Ahmadi said. “The whole community is in shock.”

Two fundraisers have been launched to try to help his widow and four children, ages 15 months to 13 years.

“What we are trying to do is to see what we can do for the family to help and support them,” said Tariq Ahmadzai of Help Build Tomorrow, which offers assistance for the Afghan community. “Want to make sure that they feel that we stand behind them as a community.”

“My goal for the fundraiser is to allow his wife to be able to pay the bills and to feed the family,” said. 

Ahmadyar’s funeral service will be Saturday at the All Muslim Association of America Cemetery in Fredericksburg.