Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 concerns were expressed by campaigners that members of an elite Afghan unit were being blocked from coming to the UK. Some of the Afghan soldiers were believed to have been members of the Triples – units which were set up, trained and funded by the UK – who could have provided evidence to the official inquiry into allegations the British special forces murdered unarmed Afghans being led by Lord Justice Haddon-Cave. After veterans minister Johnny Mercer complained that there was a “conflict of interest” if the special forces members were deciding who would and would not be granted sanctuary, the MoD denied this was the case.
READ MORE: Tory campaign chief Tony Lee out as his wife faces gambling probe Members of Afghanistan’s special forces who fought alongside British personnel have previously been tortured and killed by the Taliban. Now, SNP candidate Stewart McDonald (below) has learned that British special forces were able to veto applications from Afghan units. In response to a parliamentary question asked by McDonald in March, the UK Government stated that “every individual application is considered on a case-by-case basis in line with our published ARAP (Afghan relocations and assistance policy) criteria.
” However, on Tuesday MoD Minister Andrew Murrison took the unprecedented step of issuing a correction letter to Stewart McDonald, u-turning on the government’s previously held position. Murrison conce.
