Tribute paid to Farnborough taxi driver killed in Kabul attack

Mohammad Niazi died alongside his wife and three-month-old daughter

A taxi driver from Hampshire who was killed in the Kabul attack on Thursday "would help anyone, no matter who they were", one of his close friends said.

Mohammad Niazi, from Farnborough, had travelled to Afghanistan to help his family get on a flight to the UK.

He died alongside his wife and three-month-old daughter as they waited with thousands outside Kabul airport.

His three other children are being cared for by relatives in Kabul, his friend Imran Naizi told the BBC.

The two men shared a house for years in Hampshire as they worked to support their young families.

Imran Naizi says his friend was so happy to be travelling to Kabul to bring his family home to the UK

Mr Naizi described the moment he dropped his friend at the airport last week to catch his flight to Afghanistan.

"I looked at his face and I think it was the happiest moment in his entire life," he said.

"Mohammad said he was so lucky to get his [plane] ticket."

Mr Niazi's brother Abdul Hamid said he was killed during the firing in the aftermath of the blast.

As many as 170 people died in the suicide attack, including 13 US service personnel.

Thousands of people gathered outside Kabul airport in the hope of boarding evacuation flights

A mass airlift has been under way since the Taliban took control of the capital, with a deadline of 31 August in place for foreign troops to leave the country.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said more than 5,000 UK nationals were among more than 17,000 people evacuated by the UK from Afghanistan.

Imran Naizi said his own family were inside the airport when the bomb exploded and eventually managed to board a flight to the UK.

The Afghan community in Aldershot and Farnborough is "falling apart", he said, following his friend's death.

"Mohammad was one of the nicest people in the community," he said.

"He always was so positive, hard-working and, no matter who you were, if you needed help, he would get it to you."

Mr Naizi described the perpetrators of the attack as "not human - they are worse than animals".

Another friend, Ali Osmani, described how Mr Niazi was "always smiling".

"I've known him since he came to the UK when he was about 14 or 15," he said, adding: "He was so hard-working and down to earth.

"Everyone in the community has taken the news of his death very badly, we feel very depressed."