SALT LAKE CITY — Members of Utah’s Afghani community gathered on the south steps of the Utah State Capitol to honor Maj. Brent Taylor Sunday.
Taylor was killed on Nov. 3 while serving in Afghanistan with the Utah National Guard in an apparent insider attack by an Afghan soldier he had been training. It was his second deployment to Afghanistan.
“His service means a lot to us as United States citizens,” said Shabir Bahar, one of the organizers of the vigil.
The gathering also served dual purpose as an opportunity to highlight the struggles citizens in Afghanistan face because of terrorist activity.
“[Major Taylor] was there to support our people; he fought for us, and he fought the terrorism and extremism in Afghanistan,” said Bahar.
Bahar and the growing Afghani community are hoping pleas to the United States Government and to the United Nations for help in combating terrorism will protect their friends and family in the Middle East.
