Afghan ex-commandos blocked from UK relocation by British colleagues

Afghan ex-commandos blocked from UK relocation by British colleagues
The Afghan soldiers applying for relocation may have been able to add crucial eyewitness accounts of war crimes. (File/AFP)
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Updated 19 February 2024
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Afghan ex-commandos blocked from UK relocation by British colleagues

Afghan ex-commandos blocked from UK relocation by British colleagues
  • UK special forces had final say over applications despite facing war crimes allegations
  • ‘Triples’ members could have provided evidence as part of investigation

LONDON: Elite Afghan soldiers who served alongside coalition forces against the Taliban were rejected from relocating to the UK by British special forces personnel, the BBC reported on Monday.

Documents leaked to the national broadcaster reveal that despite compelling evidence of involvement in the anti-Taliban campaign — a prerequisite of the British relocation scheme — many Afghan commando applications were axed by UK special forces reviewers.

The former commandos were eligible to apply for relocation under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy, but dozens have since been attacked or killed by the Taliban after being rejected.

The CF 333 and ATF 444 units, dubbed the “Triples,” fought alongside British special forces in some of the most dangerous campaigns of the war.

Their relocation applications appear to have been sent to their former colleagues in Britain for approval or rejection as part of a new standard operating procedure.

But the designated chain of command has been criticized over an apparent conflict of interest, with special forces units in the UK, including the SAS, long facing controversy over war crimes allegations.

The Afghan soldiers applying for relocation may have been able to add crucial eyewitness accounts of war crimes, threatening the reopening of an official investigation that was shut down in 2019.

One British former special forces officer said: “It’s a clear conflict of interest. At a time when certain actions by UK special forces are under investigation by a public inquiry, their headquarters also had the power to prevent former Afghan special forces colleagues and potential witnesses to these actions from getting safely to the UK.”

Armed Forces Minister James Heappey recently pledged to review about 2,000 Triples applications after discovering that the reasoning behind some rejections was “not robust.”

Internal emails from the UK’s Ministry of Defence demonstrate the power of special forces reviewers to make or break relocation applications.

In some cases, civil servants tried to challenge rejections made by the special forces but were rebuffed.

Former Triples members told the BBC from Afghanistan that they now face significant danger and are unable to stay with their families or work.

One was beaten and interrogated by Taliban authorities before going on the run. He said: “I’m living in a very bad situation. I am in hiding and mostly my family can’t live together and we cannot go out and we cannot work.

“I was sure that my British colleagues and friends, who we worked for several years alongside, would help me to evacuate to safety.

“Now I feel that the sacrifices I made have been forgotten. I feel I have been left alone in the midst of hell.”

In another case, a former Triples member, at the time of the group’s joint operations with the SAS, complained to British military authorities over alleged war crimes perpetrated by his Western colleagues.

Pending an investigation, he forbade his men from taking part in supporting operations for SAS missions, alleging that extrajudicial killings of Afghan civilians were taking place.

An MoD spokesperson said: “We are conducting an independent, case-by-case review of all applications from former members of Afghan specialist units, which includes applications from the Triples.

“This review will consider all available evidence, including that provided by third parties. The review is being carried out by independent staff who have not previously worked on these applications.”


Western tour operators enter North Korea for first time since pandemic

Western tour operators enter North Korea for first time since pandemic
Updated 37 min 16 sec ago
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Western tour operators enter North Korea for first time since pandemic

Western tour operators enter North Korea for first time since pandemic
  • Beijing-based Koryo Tours wrote on its website on Thursday that ‘staff crossed the border in the early hours of this morning’
  • Another travel agency, Young Pioneer Tours, also uploaded a picture of a passport with a North Korean border stamp

SEOUL: Western tour agencies entered North Korea for the first time on Thursday since the end of the pandemic, the companies said, voicing hopes the isolated country may soon reopen a border city to foreign visitors.
In January, travel agencies said the North would reopen the border city of Rason to foreign tourists, five years after Pyongyang sealed its frontiers in response to COVID-19.
Neither North Korea nor China have commented on the plans.
The Beijing-based Koryo Tours, which offers mainly Western tourists a glimpse into the secretive nation, wrote on its website on Thursday that “staff crossed the border in the early hours of this morning.”
“We’re happy to finally enter North Korea,” the travel agency wrote in a blog.
“The country is not yet fully open to tourism and this is a special trip for staff only.”
But they hope to confirm the opening of Rason to tourism in “the coming days.”
Another travel agency, Young Pioneer Tours, also uploaded a picture of a passport with a North Korean border stamp, declaring they were “first to be back in five years.”
Koryo Tours last week said that they had opened bookings for “the first trip back to North Korea since the borders closed in January 2020.”
The company said then that it hoped the tour would take place in February.
Itineraries included visiting “must-see” sites in Rason and a chance to “travel to North Korea to celebrate one of the biggest holidays, Kim Jong Il’s Birthday,” the agency wrote on its website.
The birthday of former ruler Kim Jong Il — father of current leader Kim Jong Un — is marked as Day of the Shining Star on February 16, and typically features large-scale public celebrations, including military parades.
The tours were slated to start in China, with guests to be driven to the border with the nuclear-armed North.
Young Pioneer Tours also began taking advanced bookings for Rason tour packages in January.
Rason became North Korea’s first special economic zone in 1991 and has been a testing ground for new economic policies.
It is home to North Korea’s first legal marketplace and has a separate visa regime from the rest of the country.
Tourism to the North was limited before the pandemic, with tour companies saying around 5,000 Western tourists visited each year.
Americans were banned from traveling to the North after the imprisonment and subsequent death of student Otto Warmbier in 2017.


Modi, Trump to meet today as India seeks to ease tensions over tariffs, immigration

Modi, Trump to meet today as India seeks to ease tensions over tariffs, immigration
Updated 57 min 20 sec ago
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Modi, Trump to meet today as India seeks to ease tensions over tariffs, immigration

Modi, Trump to meet today as India seeks to ease tensions over tariffs, immigration
  • Modi is the fourth leader to visit Trump since his return, following Israeli and Japanese PMs, king of Jordan
  • Trump may visit India this year for a scheduled summit of the Quad that includes Australia, India and Japan

WASHINGTON: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will try to rekindle his bromance with Donald Trump — and avoid the US president’s wrath on tariffs and immigration — when they meet on Thursday at the White House.
Modi will also hold a joint press conference with Trump, the White House said — a rare move from the Indian leader, who is a prolific social media user but seldom takes questions from reporters.
The latest in a series of foreign leaders beating an early path to the Oval Office door since the Republican’s return to power, Modi shared good relations with Trump during his first term.
The premier has offered quick tariff concessions ahead of his visit, with New Delhi slashing duties on high-end motorcycles — a boost to Harley-Davidson, the iconic American manufacturer whose struggles in India have irked Trump.
India also accepted a US military flight carrying 100 shackled migrants last week as part of Trump’s immigration overhaul, and New Delhi has vowed its own “strong crackdown” on illegal migration.
India’s top career diplomat Vikram Misri said last week that there had been a “very close rapport” between the leaders, although their ties have so far failed to bring a breakthrough on a long-sought bilateral trade deal.
Modi was among the first to congratulate “good friend” Trump after his November election win.
For nearly three decades, US presidents from both parties have prioritized building ties with India, seeing a natural partner against a rising China.
But Trump has also raged against India over trade, the biggest foreign policy preoccupation of his new term, in the past calling the world’s fifth-largest economy the “biggest tariff abuser.”
Former property tycoon Trump has unapologetically weaponized tariffs against friends and foes since his return.
Modi “has prepared for this, and he is seeking to preempt Trump's anger,” said Lisa Curtis, the National Security Council director on South Asia during Trump’s first term.
The Indian premier’s Hindu-nationalist government has meanwhile obliged Trump on another top priority: deporting undocumented immigrants.
While public attention has focused on Latin American arrivals, India is the third source of undocumented immigrants in the United States after Mexico and El Salvador.
Indian activists burned an effigy of Trump last week after the migrants on the US plane were flown back in shackles the whole journey, while the opposition accused Modi of weakness.
One thing Modi is likely to avoid, however, is any focus on his record on the rights of Muslims and other minorities.
Trump is unlikely to highlight an issue on which former president Joe Biden's administration offered gentle critiques.
Modi is the fourth world leader to visit Trump since his return, following the prime ministers of Israel and Japan and the king of Jordan.
Modi assiduously courted Trump during his first term. The two share much in common, with both campaigning on promises to promote the interests of their countries' majority communities over minorities and both doggedly pursuing critics.
In February 2020, Modi invited Trump before a cheering crowd of more than 100,000 people to inaugurate the world’s largest cricket stadium in his home state of Gujarat.
Trump could visit India later this year for a scheduled summit of the Quad — a four-way grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States.


Suicide bomber sets off explosion near Kabul government offices, Interior Ministry says

Suicide bomber sets off explosion near Kabul government offices, Interior Ministry says
Updated 13 February 2025
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Suicide bomber sets off explosion near Kabul government offices, Interior Ministry says

Suicide bomber sets off explosion near Kabul government offices, Interior Ministry says
  • Casualties have been reported, but details were not yet available
KARACHI: An explosion occurred near government offices in Kabul on Tuesday, Abdul Matin Qani, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, said.
Qani confirmed the explosion to Reuters, adding that a suicide bomber had detonated his explosives before reaching the target, adding that casualties have been reported, but details were not yet available.

German foreign minister: Europe needs to be involved in talks over Ukraine

German foreign minister: Europe needs to be involved in talks over Ukraine
Updated 13 February 2025
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German foreign minister: Europe needs to be involved in talks over Ukraine

German foreign minister: Europe needs to be involved in talks over Ukraine
  • ‘We can’t have talks without involving Ukraine. Peace in Europe is at stake, that’s why we Europeans need to be brought in’

FRANKFURT: German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said on Thursday that Ukraine and Europe need to be involved in peace talks over Ukraine, after the US president and the Russian president discussed the conflict.
“We can’t have talks without involving Ukraine. Peace in Europe is at stake, that’s why we Europeans need to be brought in,” Baerbock said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio.
President Donald Trump discussed the war in Ukraine on Wednesday in phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.


India’s Modi seeks to avoid Trump’s wrath

India’s Modi seeks to avoid Trump’s wrath
Updated 13 February 2025
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India’s Modi seeks to avoid Trump’s wrath

India’s Modi seeks to avoid Trump’s wrath
WASHINGTON: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will try to rekindle his bromance with Donald Trump — and avoid the US president’s wrath on tariffs and immigration — when they meet on Thursday at the White House.
Modi will also hold a joint press conference with Trump, the White House said — a rare move from the Indian leader, who is a prolific social media user but seldom takes questions from reporters.
The latest in a series of foreign leaders beating an early path to the Oval Office door since the Republican’s return to power, Modi shared good relations with Trump during his first term.
The premier has offered quick tariff concessions ahead of his visit, with New Delhi slashing duties on high-end motorcycles — a boost to Harley-Davidson, the iconic American manufacturer whose struggles in India have irked Trump.
India also accepted a US military flight carrying 100 shackled migrants last week as part of Trump’s immigration overhaul, and New Delhi has vowed its own “strong crackdown” on illegal migration.
India’s top career diplomat Vikram Misri said last week that there had been a “very close rapport” between the leaders, although their ties have so far failed to bring a breakthrough on a long-sought bilateral trade deal.
Modi was among the first to congratulate “good friend” Trump after his November election win.
For nearly three decades, US presidents from both parties have prioritized building ties with India, seeing a natural partner against a rising China.
But Trump has also raged against India over trade, the biggest foreign policy preoccupation of his new term, in the past calling the world’s fifth-largest economy the “biggest tariff abuser.”
Former property tycoon Trump has unapologetically weaponized tariffs against friends and foes since his return.


Modi “has prepared for this, and he is seeking to preempt Trump’s anger,” said Lisa Curtis, the National Security Council director on South Asia during Trump’s first term.
The Indian premier’s Hindu-nationalist government has meanwhile obliged Trump on another top priority: deporting undocumented immigrants.
While public attention has focused on Latin American arrivals, India is the third source of undocumented immigrants in the United States after Mexico and El Salvador.
Indian activists burned an effigy of Trump last week after the migrants on the US plane were flown back in shackles the whole journey, while the opposition accused Modi of weakness.
One thing Modi is likely to avoid, however, is any focus on his record on the rights of Muslims and other minorities.
Trump is unlikely to highlight an issue on which former president Joe Biden’s administration offered gentle critiques.
Modi is the fourth world leader to visit Trump since his return, following the prime ministers of Israel and Japan and the king of Jordan.
Modi assiduously courted Trump during his first term. The two share much in common, with both campaigning on promises to promote the interests of their countries’ majority communities over minorities and both doggedly pursuing critics.
In February 2020, Modi invited Trump before a cheering crowd of more than 100,000 people to inaugurate the world’s largest cricket stadium in his home state of Gujarat.
Trump could visit India later this year for a scheduled summit of the Quad — a four-way grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States.