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Injured Afghan Civilian Returns Home a Hero after fighting off Taliban Intruders
BYLINE: U.S. Air Force TSgt Laura K. Smith

HERAT, Afghanistan—An injured Afghan civilian returned to his home in Baghdis province after two weeks of treatment in the Spanish medical facility at Camp Arena, Dec. 24.

The 25-year-old Afghan, referred to as Mohammad to protect him from retaliation, was shot in the leg during an attack on his village by Taliban insurgents who were looking to steal supplies of food and clothing. On Dec. 10, six armed insurgents entered the village that morning, but did not accomplish their mission.

“The Taliban came to my home looking for supplies. We didn’t want to give them our food,” said Mohammad. “They were trying to steal our assets, but we refused to give anything to them.”
Mohammad and other members of the village put up a fight, a fight the insurgents did not expect. They used stones and other weapons to defend their families from the terrorists.

“We captured them and took their weapons,” said Mohammad. “We shot one of the Taliban in the shoulder and we hit the others with stones and made them unconscious. Finally other Taliban came and took them away, probably to be treated across the border.”

During the fight, Mohammad was shot in the knee. His father took him to a nearby ISAF Forward Operating Base for treatment. “I did not have any another option to care for my son,” said Mohammad’s father. “We took him to the base, and then they flew him to Herat for further treatment.”

Mohammad was treated at the FOB by American and Italian medical teams then evacuated by a Spanish unit to Camp Arena. They found a 7cm gap in a major artery that was impossible to suture, and a severe break of the distal end of the femur. After immobilizing the leg and giving him blood transfusions overnight, the medical team made the decision to amputate.

“After we found that the foot was not viable, we performed a second operation for amputation of the lower leg above the knee,” stated Getzov. “We tried all the measures to save the leg, but it was not possible.”

Mohammad recovered in the Camp Arena hospital until he was flown home on a Spanish Air Force Super Puma Helicopter on Dec. 24.