DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The United States on Saturday deported dozens of people to the Central African Republic, including an Afghan whose brothers collaborated with the U.S. military, lawyers said.

The Afghan man, who is in his early twenties, was granted protection against deportation to Afghanistan by a U.S judge due to fears of persecution by the Taliban, his lawyer Alma David said.

His family in Afghanistan had received threats from the Taliban because of the work performed by the brothers in support of the U.S. military, according to court documents seen by The Associated Press.

One of the Afghan man’s brothers lives in the United States and served in the Afghan National Army, which collaborated with the U.S military before the Taliban seized power in 2021, David said.

Another one of his brothers was a pilot trained by the U.S. and was killed by the Taliban, she added.

The deportation flight which landed in Central African Republic’s capital Bangui on Saturday, included 12 Afghans and 8 Iranians, as well as several people from Nepal and Nicaragua, Savi Arvey, director of policy, refugee and immigrant rights at Human Rights First, said.

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