Mohammad Sabir Khan (right) with his child and father at his residence after returning from Afghanistan. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, May 7: Mohammad Sabir Khan is glad to be alive.

The automobile engineer returned to the city yesterday from Afghanistan shaken by the recent killing of telecom engineer K. Suryanarayana by the Taliban a few days ago.

Khan worked in Kandahar, where the US army is based.

He was employed with Hong Kong-based RM Asia (HK) Limited.

Khan?s experience in Kandahar has left him preturbed, even now he is back in Jamshedpur.

?I was so scared that I kept praying that I kept on praying for my life even at night,? he said.

Suryanarayana?s beheaded body was found 300 kilometres south-west of Kabul on April 30.

?No one wanted to live in Afghanistan after that day,? recalled Khan.

Indians are trickling back to the country after the attack on Suryanarayana.

Khan left Kabul on Wednesday. He remembered seeing a large number of Indians waiting to get tickets outside the airport in the Afghan capital.

Khan was one of the eight Indians who returned from Afghanistan on Wednesday. Three on the Kabul-Delhi flight were from his company.

Suryanarayana?s murder has scared Khan so much that he has decided never to return to Afghanistan, even on a foreign assignment.

?India is the best place to live,? he said with the fear still visible on his face, ?even if there is not enough money.?

Khan had a miraculous escape in an missile attack by the Taliban on April 8, and is still under medication for injuries sustained in his chest and hip.

Khan saw three of his colleagues, including an American, die in front of him.

?There was no family or friends to look after or support me when I was injured. It was then I realised the importance of family and being in a safe country such as India,? he said.

All foreigners, including Muslims, are spending sleepless nights regardless of where they are posted in Afghanistan.

?No one is safe as long as the Taliban are in power whether they are Muslim, Hindu or Christian. The Taliban will kill anyone who tries to change their way of living,? he said.

?Instead the Taliban are more interested in destruction. Except Kabul, most parts of the country have been destroyed. Many do not even have proper housing. They spend most of their time in fighting and bloodshed,? added Khan.

Reunited with his family, the automobile engineer has a word of advice for others putting money as their first priority.

?Never accept a job offer in an unstable country even if it is very lucrative and may help earning lots of money in a short period of time,? said Khan.