The government must reverse its shameful behaviour towards Afghan war heroes

Editorial: Boris Johnson declared in September 2021 that the UK would do ‘whatever we can’ to ensure that Afghan special forces left behind in Afghanistan would ‘get the safe passage they need’. Yet Britain has turned its back on them

Their lives are under threat because they assisted crown forces in a campaign sanctioned by the United Nations, and did so for about 20 years (Getty)

Betrayal” is a word that ought not to be used lightly, but the behaviour of the authorities towards Afghans who fought with British troops during their long and shared struggle against the Taliban is certainly unjust. As with the Afghan air force pilot who has now secured asylum thanks to The Independent’s advocacy, we hope now that hundreds of members of the Afghan special forces will also find sanctuary in the UK. It is no more than they deserve.

Our special report, prepared with Sky News and Lighthouse Reports, an investigative media organisation, eloquently lays out the case for assured refugee status. These former soldiers, mostly marooned in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere, are targets for torture and execution at the merciless hands of the Taliban if they are unfortunate enough to be discovered.

This has already been the gruesome fate of their ex-comrades in documented cases, including one who was shot in the head as he went to buy groceries, killing him instantly, and another who was tortured so severely that his family said it would have been a greater mercy if he had been murdered. Most are having to pursue lives separate from their wives and children, with reunions happening under the cover of darkness. We believe that dozens of these former commandos have been beaten, tortured or killed by the Taliban. You can’t really get more vulnerable than that.