It was around 9am when Ahmad was discovered, crumpled and bloodied, in a dried-up canal. The Afghan former sergeant had been left for dead by his Taliban attackers who had used the butts of their guns to strike his head until he was barely recognisable. His 13 years of work with the British special forces had made him a prime target.
All he can remember is being ordered to hand over 20 rifles he didn’t have – and then the savage blows began. “One of them said ‘He has nothing to give us,’ and said they should kill me. They beat me so badly. Four of my teeth got knocked out and my nose was broken. I had to go through many surgeries.”
