The mission of a former British soldier to evacuate 400 Afghanistan via a third country failed after his staff coach was turned away at the border between Afghanistan and a third country.
Ben Slater, a former soldier of the British Constitutional Corps, who now runs a chain of NGOs, is trying to evacuate 400 people and himself from a country now controlled by the Taliban.
After a failed attempt to secure a seat for his staff and his family on a plane by British airlift from Kabul Mr. Slater has begun a cross-border escape bid.
He and his Afghan coach spent two days at the border and stayed at a hotel near the checkpoint.
However, on Thursday morning, Mr. Slater was arrested by the Taliban and imprisoned in jail. There he was asked about a member of his staff, a single woman staying in a hotel room without a husband.
He was later released and told that he could travel across the border with one assistant, but the rest of the staff were not granted visas to travel to the UK, so he went to Kabul. I need to go back.
Mr Slater vowed to continue to support them and told The Telegraph that he would try to secure visas for them from Britain or other Western countries. He asked the FCDO and the Interior Ministry to do more to free the staff.
“The last blow to the operation is that the UK is allowing only me and one of my executive assistants across the border today, and they are because they are part or the rest of my group. It doesn’t even suggest that he intends to issue a visa to him, “he said.
“It’s a really complete disaster. It feels unpleasant. It’s more than horrifying.”
The British left in Afghanistan were advised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to travel to Britain via a third country after the withdrawal of Western troops on Monday night.
However, the government has been criticized for not having diplomatic agreements with Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to facilitate travel before the fall of Kabul.
Dominic Raab, Minister for Foreign Affairs, I flew to Qatar to hold talks to support evacuation. He will be briefed on the ongoing debate between British officials and the Taliban.
A FDCO spokesman said:
“We will continue to do everything we can to fulfill our obligation to take British citizens and qualified Afghans out of the country, as security conditions permit.”