Shortly after leaving home to look for work in December 2002, Agha was detained by Afghan soldiers in Girishk for attempting to join the Taliban to fight against Americans, a charge which he denied. At the time, he would have been aged between 13 and 14 years old. He was then transferred to the United States at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. During this time he says he was held in solitary confinement and subjected to sleep deprivation and stress position, both enhanced interrogation techniques used at the time by the U.S. Armed Forces.