Two men from Afghanistan arrived in Norway shortly after the Taliban seized control of the country in 2021. Now one of them is charged with murdering the other, and police are working to chart the relationship between them.
Mohammad Tariz Wasiri, age 28, and his wife were both attacked outside their home near Bergen last Sunday evening. She escaped serious injury but Wasiri was killed. Neighbours and his wife have described Wasiri, who was educated to work for the police in Afghanistan, as a helpful, hard-working and friendly man who had been part of the Afghan special forces unit CRU 222, which cooperated with Norwegian forces in NATO’s long-running and unsuccessful efforts to fight terror in the country.
After the Taliban assumed power Wasiri was among 116 members of CRU 222 who were evacuated to Norway, where military personnel helped them start new lives. It remained unclear whether the Afghan man now arrested in the case was also among those evacuated and brought to Norway.
State broadcaster NRK reported on Monday that police were still working on the relationship between the two and finding a motive for the murder. The suspect, who lives in Bergen, has denied killing Wasiri but was ordered held in custody for at least four weeks while police continue their investigation of the murder in Arna, just outside the west coast city.
“His movements, connections to the deceased and other evidence have made police think he is tied to the scene of the crime and to the murder,” prosecutor Inger-Lise Høyland told reporters after the suspect’s arrest last Wednesday. The suspect’s defense attorney had no further comment.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
