British Defense Secretary attacks supporters of an animal rescuer in Kabul | Afghanistan

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Britain’s defense minister has accused supporters of a former British marine of trying to evacuate his shelter animals and staff from Kabul of trying to interfere in the attempt to rescue desperate Afghans.

Ben Wallace has criticized “bullying, lies, and threatening behavior” by those who support Paul “Ben” Farthing, who founded the charity Nawzad and rushed to the airport with 25 Afghan employees, their families and 173 rescued animals.

Wallace agreed to let them land on a private charter plane to take them to Britain, but Farthing said that while his convoy faced the challenges of Taliban guards, it was stuck outside the airport for 10 hours. He warned that 94 dogs and 79 cats he intended to transport would be baked to death in their travel crates if they were not given safe passage.

A Taliban spokesperson in Doha appealed directly on social media, Farthing wrote: “Dear Sir; My team and my animals are stuck in the airport circuit. We have a waiting flight. Can you please facilitate safe passage to the airport for our convoy? Sohail Shaheen, we are an NGO and will be back To Afghanistan but now I want to get everyone out safely.”

Farthing and animals were not hurt by two explosions outside Kabul airport on Thursday. After the blast, Farthing told The Sun: “We’re fine but it’s all a mess here at the moment.

“Suddenly we heard gunshots and our car was targeted, had our driver not turned he would have shot a man in the head with an AK-47. We were at the airport and back from the airport. Everything is a mess. There’s not much I can say at the moment, I’m We need to make sure the animals and everyone is safe.”

Wallace intervened when a representative asked him about the situation on Wednesday evening. He said there was “no truth” in British forces’ claims that Farthing or his squad had been denied access to their charter plane, but that the problem was instead “with a flow through the gates to get on the air side”. He added, “What I wasn’t prepared to do was prioritize pets over people… I might not like it. But that’s my opinion.”

He then wrote a seven-poster Twitter thread on Thursday afternoon, saying: “The issue, as these desperate people waiting outside the gates know well, has always been processed through the entrances. It can take more than 24 hours. No point even getting on a plane Passengers/pets become mid-air.”

Wallace added that threats from Farthing supporters toward Defense Department staff and advisers were “a shameful and unacceptable way of dealing with people trying to assist in the evacuation.” He urged people to “allow civil servants and military personnel to deal with one of the most dangerous and challenging evacuations in a generation.”

Attention was drawn to Farthing’s campaign to evacuate his animals because a friend and fellow animal welfare activist, Dominic Dyer, told Mail+ that Boris Johnson had “pushed the case” and that his wife, Carrie Johnson, “definitely had something to do with Change.”

However, a government source denied that such pressures occurred. Speaking on Thursday, the prime minister himself said: “I have absolutely no influence on any particular issue, and it wouldn’t be right. This is not the way we do things in this country.”

The case received notable press coverage and Wallace said Farthing and his staff would be eligible for a place on an RAF plane outside Kabul – but not the animals. Farthing has vowed to stay in Afghanistan until he knows his animals and staff are safe – even though they hold a British passport.

Updated Wednesday night, the State Department’s advice for people near the airport asked to “remove to a safe place” due to the “persistent and elevated threat of terrorist attack,” and Wallace said Wednesday that some people should head to a neighboring country via a land border.

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