FOB THUNDER, Afghanistan – With his right arm heavily bandaged, Afghan National Army 1st Sgt. Ibrahim lay in a hospital bed three days after one of the worst days of his life.
Ibrahim’s convoy struck an IED while clearing an area of insurgents near the Pakistan border. Almost immediately after the blast, his company from Afghanistan’s 7th Special Operations Kandak started taking small arms and RPG fire. Minutes into the battle, Ibrahim was shot, but his company was able to defeat the enemy thanks to in no small part to his actions. Even now, while recovering from his injuries, his mind is still on his soldiers that fought alongside him that day.
“I’ve got a couple of heroes in my company,” Ibrahim said. “Not only did they defend our convoy well and prevent a lot of casualties, but they also moved in on the enemy and caused them casualties of their own.”
Ibrahim’s hospital quarters are eerily quiet, considering he shares the room with nearly a dozen other men who suffered similar injuries. Perhaps it’s because, like Ibrahim, these men are reflecting on the events that led them here. Ibrahim himself thinks back to seven years before, when he was in high school student in Panjsheer province and a TV advertisement changed his life.
“When I was still in high school, I saw a commercial for the Afghan National Army,” Ibrahim said. “I saw how hard they were working to protect the Afghan people and it got me interested. I left my last year of high school and enlisted.”
He may not have imagined then that his decision to join would bring him to where he is now. But he said his brush with the enemy has only emboldened his drive to rid his homeland of its enemies.
“In the near future, when I’ve recovered, I want to launch an operation against those who attacked us. I want to destroy the enemies of Islam and my people,” he said.
It is more than revenge that drives his desire to reengage the insurgents that attacked him. Ibrahim wants to secure a brighter future for Afghanistan.
“Security and education are very important things for Afghanistan,” Ibrahim said. “With good security and education, and support from the international forces, we will stand on our own two feet.”
It’s a mission that 1st Sgt. Ibrahim will undertake as soon as he is back on his own two feet.