Illegally detained in US, Afghan back home after 20 years

CHAPARHAR, Afghanistan — Like hundreds of thousands of Afghans who endured imprisonment in US detention centers during the two-decade presence of US-led forces in Afghanistan, 57-year-old Khan Mohammad carries bitter memories of being illegally detained for years.

"My children were small when I was arrested. After my release and return home, I couldn't recognize any of them until they introduced themselves one by one, from the eldest to the youngest," Khan, the head of a 10-member family, told Xinhua recently in his village.

Living in a mud-brick house amid a barren and ravaged garden in the remote village of Hadia Khil, the former prisoner alleged that he had been detained for nearly two decades by the US military without committing any crime.

"They (the Americans) accused me of orchestrating a major conspiracy to attack Jalalabad airport and kill many Americans," recalled Khan, who was recently freed from US custody. "But I did nothing. I completely denied the allegations."

Arrested by US troops in 2006 from Jalalabad, the provincial capital of Nangarhar, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States.

However, in January, he was released and returned home as part of a prisoner exchange deal between the United States and the Afghan interim government.

Despite being 57 years old, he appears at least a decade older. His hands tremble as he recounts his ordeal. The former detainee said that when US troops captured him, they blindfolded and gagged him, and then placed him in a small room at Jalalabad airport before transferring him to the US military base in Bagram.

Eventually, he was flown to Washington, DC.

"My story is a long one," he muttered. "In Bagram, I was like the other prisoners. Then they (the Americans) transferred me to the United States. The journey was terrifying. They tied my hands and feet, blindfolded me, and blocked my ears. The distance was long, and I was in pain the whole time."

Sitting on an old-fashioned traditional bed locally called "caat", and surrounded by his sons, grandsons, and friends, the bearded Khan spoke in a loud, determined voice: "Freedom is more precious than anything."

During its 20-year military presence in Afghanistan, which ended in August 2021, US forces committed a range of abuses, according to Afghan citizens.

Xinhua