Member-only story
Afghan Taxi Driver Fatally Shot During Argument With Passenger
Weeks after the murder, the body of Mir Najibullah Sadat Sahou’s alleged killer was found scattered in the ocean off San Diego.
In 1992, the governor of Afghanistan’s central bank, Mir Najibullah Sadat Sahou, was forced to flee the country due to a civil war. He was granted political asylum in the US and settled in Poway, San Diego, with his wife and youngest daughter, Savitar Sahou. His two older daughters and son lived in Germany.
Once the Taliban lost control of Afghanistan, Sahou was urged to seek political office in his home country, but he chose to stay in California and become a US citizen.
Despite having master’s degrees in finance and economics from Paris’ Sorbonne University, Sahou had trouble finding a job, so he bought a car and started his own taxi business. He could often be seen at Lindbergh Field airport waiting for customers.
Sahou maintained close ties with his native country and hosted a bi-weekly talk show, “To Find the Truth,” on Ariana-Afghanistan International TV, a network based in Irvine, California.
Savitar recalled how her father was hardworking and spent his limited free time reading books and writing poetry,
“My mom would pack him lunch in a picnic basket, and he left at 8 a.m., came…
