A HERO Afghan interpreter who served on the frontline with British soldiers in his home country is rebuilding his shattered life in Port Glasgow.

Mohammad Dawari is one of six brave men and their families who have been resettled in Inverclyde after putting their own lives on the line to work for the British Army.

But after the war ended in Afghanistan, Mohammad and his colleagues faced certain death at the hands of the resurgent Taliban regime in the fragile country.

Mohammad, from Helmand, was given asylum in the UK and escaped with his wife Sakina and his two little girls, three-year-old Farishta and one-year-old Taqwa, to start a new life.

As Inverclyde prepares to take in another six Aghan families and around 10 Syrian refugee families, the dad-of-two spoke about the incredible welcome he and his family have received since arriving last April.

Former British Army interpreter Mohammad said: “We are so thankful for all the help we have had, especially for my wife Sakina.

“She doesn’t speak any English and it has been very difficult for her, such a shock.

“But people have been so kind.

“She doesn’t know how to shop in Tesco — we were used to markets.

“But any help she needs, there are people there to give it to her.

“People in our street are so kind, asking us where we are from and what happened to us. They are very friendly.” Mohammad and Sakina, 21, are expecting their third child in February.

He added: “The care has just been so good. They have looked after Sakina so well. In the health centre they are great and the health visitors are too.” Back in Afghanistan Mohammad faced an awful dilemma as the combat mission came to an end and British troops began to pull out.

He said: “We just kept hoping that the British Army would not leave. We thought they would stay and continue with training.

“But when they left we were on our own. The Taliban knew who we were. They knew my face. I was on the frontline.

“I was in fear of my life and for my family’s safety.” When news filtered through that interpreters could be given asylum in the UK, Mohammad waited anxiously for a call to send his young family to safety.

He said: “The call came from the British Embassy and we were told we were going to Glasgow. That is all I knew and all I heard. My friend who also served with me was on the same flight with us.” Bewildered Mohammad, 27, and Sakina fled Afghanistan with Farishta and newborn baby girl Taqwa, who was only weeks old, arriving here on 29 April last year.

He said: “It was a 24-hour journey and when we arrived they took us to Port Glasgow and we just went to sleep. They very kindly had food for us, but we just wanted to sleep.” Mohammad was six when Islamic fundamentalists took control of Afghanistan, imposing strict religious practices and, in particular, restricting the role of women.

He added: “I was in school and I was just small so I had no idea who the government was.” He was 13 when the British and American troops declared war on the Taliban regime and six years later he joined their ranks.

After leaving school, Mohammad spoke with his father and at the age of 18 he applied to to join the British Army as an interpreter.

He started training in 2006 with the British Army.

He said: “We were immediately in training and I was sent to Camp Bastion. I had never held a gun before then or did anything military. It was tough, very tough going out there.” Interpreters with local knowledge were vital to winning the war in Afghanistan and Mohammad stood shoulder-to-shoulder with British soldiers as the fatalities reached the hundreds during the dark days of 2009 and 2010.

Around that time Inverclyde was also mourning the loss of Greenock Lance Corporal Stephen Monkhouse and Lance Corporal Joe McFarlane Pool, both killed in action only months apart in Helmand.

Mohammad added: “I was out on the frontline in patrols and you just did whatever needed to be done when you were out there, whether you were an interpreter or not.

“I lost many British and Afghan friends.

“It was very dangerous.” By April 2014 Mohammad and his fellow interpreters were facing the prospect of being left on their own in an unstable country run by a weak government.

Mohammad then faced the terrible decision to leave the rest of his family behind or remain a sitting target for extremists.

From the safety of his home in Port Glasgow he said: “I miss my family so, so much. My dad is head carpenter for the government.

“We all stayed together in a compound in Helmand — in Afghanistan you live with your family even in your 30s.

“I have three brothers and four sisters. It is very hard.

“But I told them that I had to go, it was a matter of life or death.

“It was safety for my family. There was no choice.

“In Afghanistan things are very uncertain.

“The president is a very well educated man but he is not free to make decisions. It all has to be agreed and it takes years.

“I don’t know if it will ever be safe for me to go back home. I mean I didn’t ever think a city like Kunduz would fall.” Now Mohammad is looking to the future for his children.

He said: “I would like to go to college and study maybe nursing or health care. I studied English for two years and with the army I got a lot of experience doing first aid.” The proud father says his little girls have coped well with the change and are settled in nursery in Inverclyde.

But he added: “Farishta just kept asking ‘when will I see my grandfather again, when will I see grandfather?’. I just had to keep saying ‘we can’t see him just now’.” In total 12 Afghan interpreters and their families will be resettled in Inverclyde as part of a UK Government programme.

Inverclyde Council has a dedicated team working with the families helping them to settle and overcome all the cultural differences.

With the resettlement scheme’s success established, councillors are now set to make a decision on how many Syrian refugees Inverclyde can accommodate.

They will discuss the matter at a meeting in the Municipal Buildings today.