In 1988, he traveled to fight with the Mujahideen in repelling the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but contracted malaria within two weeks of arriving and spent the next four months in a hospital in Peshawar, before returning to Canada.[1] He later worked as a truck driver in Afghanistan,[3] and drove an ambulance and cooked meals for Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's army as it fought against the Taliban in Logar.[1] In 1996, Amer came to Afghanistan looking for his brother, just as Hekmatyar's forces were retreating north through Salang tunnel. In November 1997, Ahmad deserted, meeting up with his mother and sister in Iran, while his brother traveled to Pakistan.[1]