Japanese aid doctor killed in Afghanistan

Tetsu Nakamura, a Japanese physician and humanitarian who worked in Afghanistan for more than a decade, died last week. He was 73. Unknown gunmen shot Nakamura during an ambush in eastern Afghanistan that also killed his three bodyguards, a driver, and another passenger.

What was his legacy? Nakamura led the Japanese charity Peace Medical Service in Nangarhar province since 2008. He worked in rural areas to help villagers in the drought-stricken region build canals using old Japanese techniques. Afghans credit him for the region’s reforestation and fertile wheat farmlands. Villagers fondly called him “Uncle Murad.” In April, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani awarded him honorary citizenship. Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry extended its condolences and lauded Nakamura for “bringing livelihood to the people of the region.”

Dig deeper: Read my report in World Tour on fear and unrest in Afghanistan after U.S.-Taliban peace talks broke down in September. In a recent visit to troops in the country, President Donald Trump said the negotiations had resumed.