An honourable end in sight for the Afghan special forces let down by Britain

Editorial: After months of inertia and confusion, the British authorities appear to be within touching distance of allowing the Afghan ‘Triples’ who fought alongside allied military forces to start new lives in the UK. As a grateful country, it is the least we owe them

Afghan forces who fought along British troops are a sitting target for the Taliban (Supplied)

At last, it would seem that justice is at hand for the Afghan special forces so disgracefully left behind and forgotten by the British government.

Despite lavish promises by successive prime ministers and defence secretaries, hundreds of Afghan soldiers in the special forces have had their cases for asylum wrongly assessed, with the result that they and their families were left abandoned when the British hurriedly withdrew in August 2021. There was apparently no consideration given to certificates and ID cards showing their closeness with the UK special forces, and references from British colleagues were ignored. So were the testimonies and pleas of senior British service personnel.

Now, in a dramatic but fairly typical development, so far as the Afghan veterans are concerned, after months of inertia and confusion, the British authorities have at last come within touching distance of doing the right thing, and allowing people who have risked their lives fighting alongside allied forces to start a new life in safety.