Touching look at the life and death of Afghan interpreter killed in DC

By Rebecca Santana, Ellen Knickmeyer, Serkan Gurbuz, Mariam Zulhaib and Nathan Howard 

Reporters Rebecca Santana and Ellen Knickmeyer, video journalist Serkan Gurbuz, and photographers Mariam Zulhaib and Nathan Howard told the story of a former U.S. military interpreter in Afghanistan, who fled the Taliban only to be shot to death while working as a ride-share driver in Washington, D.C.   

With great sensitivity, the team went beyond the horrifying facts of the crime to paint a portrait of Nasrat Ahmad Yar, showing through his friends and family members who he was as a person. Through interviews with one of his best friends, his cousin and a woman who helped Ahmad Yar’s evacuation from Afghanistan, photos and video coverage of the funeral portraying a grieving family and Afghan community, AP gave his life and death the in-depth, all-formats treatment that it deserved.