AHMED

Ahmed was an Afghan boy, living with his mother Zia in a small rural home near the Pakistani border at the time of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. His father had been a leader of the resistance, but he had been shot in the back and killed by Khalil, an Afghan tribal leader who cooperated with the Russians. Khalil had then set his sights on Ahmed's widowed mother and had repeatedly tried to force himself on her, while Ahmed felt powerless to intervene.

When an early American Rogallo satellite fell out of orbit, MacGyver was sent to Afghanistan to retrieve the classified data capsule from the downed satellite. In order to get to the target quickly, MacGyver flew an obsolete military jet into Afghan airspace, then parachuted from the jet as the Soviets brought it down with ground-to-air missiles. Captain Osharansky, in command of the Soviet Headquarters in the area, ordered all available men, including Khalil and his militia, to search for the plane and the pilot. MacGyver recovered the data capsule, but he became trapped on the top of a mesa by Soviet and Afghan forces, and his only means of escape was to piece together parts of the downed satellite to build a hang glider. As MacGyver glided from the mesa, Khalil's men fired automatic weapons and wounded him in the right shoulder and hand. Ahmed had witnessed MacGyver's resourceful escape, and he rushed to MacGyver's aid, helping him onto a horse and bringing him home. Fearful of the consequences, Zia at first refused to take MacGyver into her home, but Ahmed's pleading convinced her, and she nursed him back to health.

Ahmed had been raised in an occupied country during a time of war, and he understood violence and killing. He was intensely aware of gender roles and the importance of becoming a man, and he longed to be strong enough to protect his mother from Khalil and the Russians. When Khalil returned, MacGyver used a tank of butane as a projectile to knock him out, and Ahmed urged MacGyver to kill him, but Khalil had died when his own gun had accidentally fired. When Ahmed admitted that he had deceived MacGyver and had brought him home hoping that he might be strong enough to defeat Khalil, he assumed that MacGyver would beat him with a whip for his lie. He was confused by MacGyver's philosophy of nonviolence, and he described MacGyver's resourcefulness as miraculous as he witnessed the flight from the mesa, the defeat of Khalil, and his repair of the family's water pump. Ahmed wanted desperately for MacGyver to stay, even as he knew it was impossible, and Zia also noticed the positive influence that MacGyver had on her son.

When Sergeant Borsov, a young Soviet soldier, approached Zia's home, MacGyver overpowered him, and Ahmed urged MacGyver to shoot him, but MacGyver let the young soldier go unharmed, explaining to the bewildered Ahmed that he didn't kill because he didn't have to. However, Zia and Ahmed had now become targets of both the Soviets and Khalil's men, and they had no choice but to leave their home. They joined MacGyver as he made his way toward the Pakistani border, but there they once again encountered Sergeant Borsov in his tank. In return for MacGyver's earlier compassion, Borsov said with a smile, "American, if I had seen you, I might tell you the border is two kilometers due east. But next time, American, next time I drop roof on your head." At last Ahmed understood that "if you had shot him like I asked, there would be another one to take his place, and he would have killed us for sure." As they made their way along the final two kilometers to the border, Ahmed and MacGyver had plenty of time for two men to say goodbye.

Portrayed by: Ajay Naidu

Cross Reference: Afghanistan, Sergeant Borsov, Khalil, Captain Osharansky, Rogallo Satellite, Zia

Episode Reference: To Be a Man