A REFUGEE living in Bromsgrove has been promoted into a supermarket management post just two years after fleeing from the Taliban.

Kambiz Adeeb escaped from Afghanistan to save his life and find a new future for his young family and his mother.

He was an interpreter and a military instructor working for the British armed forces until the Taliban took back control of the country. His mother had worked as an auditor in the office of the former Afghan President.

After the regime change, Mr Adeeb, aged 34, spent a year constantly moving between Kabul and his home city of Herat, to avoid capture.

He was on a bus that was stopped by Taliban gunmen who targeted four young Afghan soldiers from the former regime.

Mr Adeeb said: “They took them off the bus and they shot them right in front of everyone”

“I was a witness of that incident. I was on that bus. And that incident made my family force me to request to get out of the country.

“I was traumatised as well because it was really, really a dangerous situation. It was the most horrific. I may never forget that.”

He left everything behind and escaped to Iran with his wife, three young children and his mother.

They eventually arrived in a Bromsgrove hotel, and now live in a rented home in the town.

He said that his family "feel safe" in the town.

The family has been very grateful for the support of Bromsgrove & Redditch Welcome Refugees (BRWR) and many others in the town.

Mr Adeeb said: “We are receiving tons of helps, love, respect, everything here. We received everything we needed from zero to a hundred and we appreciate that a lot.”

He has recently been promoted to deputy store manager at a town centre supermarket after just one year there.

“I feel really proud,” he said.

“I love this job and my colleagues; and I want to go further, to take more steps, this is just the beginning.”

The Adeeb family is now determined to reward the generosity of the British taxpayer.

He added: “The UK people they spend a lot of money on us… to save our lives. I work long hours so I can pay tax - the money we received, I want to repay that somehow. And I’m trying to be at least good for the society,” he concluded.

Yvonne Rendell is chairperson of BRWR, which supports about 200 refugees across the two towns. She said Mr Adeeb was typical of refugees who seek sanctuary in our communities.

She said: “Kambiz is a shining example who epitomises the truth about refugees and asylum seekers. These are people who have fled from often unimaginable trauma and simply want to create a new life in this country, where they can earn a wage, bring up their families and live in peace.

“In light of the appalling rioting on the streets in recent times, it’s important to understand how peace-loving, hard-working and grateful refugees are. There is nothing for us to hate or to fear. These are decent, kind people just like most of the rest of us.”