Ahmed Errachidi is a gourmet chef who worked at the Westbury Hotel in Mayfair (London, England). He had two young sons, one of whom was in dire need of a heart operation in 2001. He left for Pakistan in September of that year to buy silver jewelry there which he hoped to resell in Morocco in order to raise the money for his son's operation. However, in October of that year, when the US invaded Afghanistan, he left Pakistan to attempt to help civilians affected by the war.

Dilawar was a 22-year-old peanut farmer from Yakubi, Afghanistan. He used to drive the tractor on his family's farm, but eventually switched to driving a car his family bought him, which he used as a taxi. He picked up two passengers in Khost, and was then stopped at Fire Base Salerno by militiamen which the US had hired to provide local security around the base. His car was searched, and an electric stabilizer was found. He was accused of being involved in the rocket attacks on Fire Base Salerno earlier that morning, and chained to a fence with his passengers overnight.