Afghanistan: Tetsu Nakamura's mortal remains sent back to Japan

The mortal remains of Japanese doctor Tetsu Nakamura were sent back to Japan after a ceremony at Kabul airport which was attended by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. Dr Nakamura, a Japanese physician and aid worker in eastern Afghanistan, was killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen on December 4.

During the address at the ceremony, Ghani called the Japanese aid worker a ‘hero’  and announced that all projects Dr. Nakamura worked on, complete or incomplete, will be named after him. He also helped Nakamura’s family carry the coffin at the airport and extended his condolences. "Dr Nakamura was a great man who dedicated his whole life for improving the lives of the most vulnerable people in Afghanistan," said Ghani.

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Humanitarian aid worker

Dr Nakamura, who headed an NGO called Peace Medical Service, was working on the betterment of healthcare in Nangarhar province. Due to his outstanding contribution to medical care in the region, Ghani had awarded him honorary citizenship. He came to Afghanistan in 1980 to treat leprosy and started heading the NGO in 2008 after a Japanese colleague, Kazuya Ito, was abducted and killed.

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No one has claimed the responsibility of the attack with the Taliban, Afghanistan’s Sunni Islamic fundamentalist military organization, denying any involvement. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson of the Taliban, took to Twitter saying the organisation had no connection with the attack. “Attack on Japanese national & head of PMS NGO in #Jalalabad city has no connection with the Mujahidin of IEA. NGOs operating in reconstruction field have good relations with IEA & none are military targets for the Mujahidin (sic),” he had tweeted. 

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Earlier, Ghani had condemned the dastardly attack which killed Nakamura along with five other Afghans including his bodyguards, driver and a passenger. He said that he has directed the security agencies to investigate the incident. “Dr Nakamura's efforts and fruitful designs have benefited thousands of Afghans so that the internal and external oppressors of our country's population and development cannot tolerate our progress, our abode and the prosperity of the nation,” he tweeted.

Read: Official: Japanese Doctor Dies After Attack In Afghanistan

(With inputs from Agencies)