AT ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT, LAST AMERICAN TROOPS LEFT KABUL
As noose tightens, ex-soldier leads 400 Afghans on trek ‘Massively let down’ by U.K.
A former British soldier left stranded in Kabul is leading an escape effort for 400 Afghans across a Taliban-controlled border.
Ben Slater, 37, decided to escape Afghanistan over land seized by the Islamist group after the U.K. Foreign Office failed to approve visas for the air evacuation of himself and around 50 staff, who are mainly Afghan women.
A detailed plan for their escape, seen by The Daily Telegraph, has been sent to the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence in the hope that U.K. forces will assist their efforts on the ground and repatriate them when they reach their destination in a third country.
The location of Slater’s convoy and their final destination cannot be revealed for security reasons.
Slater is the chairman of a string of non-government organizations, the Nomad Concepts Group, which operates from Kabul.
He formerly served in the Royal Military Police, where he worked as a bodyguard to British ambassadors abroad.
“It’s going to be a long trip, and I am hoping on the other end that the FCDO have got our visas sorted, or at least have spoken to the foreign affairs ministry in our destination country to allow access for our vulnerable staff,” he said.
Slater has already helped dozens of people get out of Afghanistan on the U.K.’S airlift program.
But when he asked officials to organize the evacuation of himself and staff, who are at risk of retribution from the Taliban, no visas were provided.
The U.K. ended its airlift on Friday night, leaving behind as many as 1,000 Afghans eligible to be rescued.
Slater described himself as “massively let down” by the U.K. government and has launched his own operation to save 400 Afghan nationals and himself.
Ministers have advised any British nationals or Afghans eligible for resettlement in the U.K. to attempt to make passage to countries that neighbour Afghanistan so they can be repatriated.
But concerns have been raised that Foreign Office officials failed to “roll the pitch” with Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to allow people to travel to the U.K.
Officials are concerned that Russia has encouraged Afghanistan’s neighbours not to accept Western citizens in transit to their home
WE HAVE RECEIVED ASSURANCES FROM THE TALIBAN ...
countries, or to facilitate Afghan refugees seeking resettlement in Britain and elsewhere.
The Taliban have assured world leaders they will allow people to leave the country across land borders with other states, but Slater and other travellers are concerned local fighters will not keep that promise.
A joint statement by 90 countries released on Sunday night said: “We have received assurances from the Taliban that all foreign nationals and any Afghan citizen with travel authorization from our countries (can) proceed in a safe (manner) to points of departure and travel outside the country.”