DEHRADUN: When 23-year-old Afghan Gentleman Cadet, Ahmad Siyar passed from IMA on Saturday as an Afghan Army officer, he didn’t celebrate because he knew after returning home he had to mourn the loss of his father whom he lost to Taliban few weeks back.
His father was a Colonel in the Afghan National Army (ANA) and was ambushed by the Taliban while he was commanding an area of Afghan-Tajikistan border. He had planned to come to see him passing out on Saturday.
Siyar was undergoing training in IMA along with 44 other Afghan gentleman cadets who passed out on Saturday to be newly commissioned officers in ANA. He got the news of his father’s demise about two weeks back from his family back in Kabul.
“The day when he passed away, I was feeling restless even before getting the news. As I was leading the battalion here, I called my mother and asked if everything was fine but she said nothing had happened except that my father sustained some injuries in his hand,” he said.
Later it was through Facebook that he came to know of his father’s demise, Ahmad said.
“I was born in a refugee camp in Pakistan. My father had lost his army job due to the Taliban. But when their regime ended and democracy came to the country, he was again inducted in the army,” Ahmad said adding, “I always wanted to join army.” He added, “Now after my dad’s demise at the hands of Taliban, I want to serve my nation. I am now more determined than ever.”