Friday 27 August 2021
The minister sees lost time
Failed shelter evacuation in Kabul
A British man who has set up an animal shelter in the Afghan capital is trying to get his staff and animals out of the country on a chartered flight. Britain’s defense secretary personally gives the green light to action – but gets upset later. Also, the escape attempt failed.
An attempt by a British man to evacuate an animal shelter in Kabul was unsuccessful. According to him, work is over at the airport, where there was one on Thursday attacks With dozens of dead and wounded. Former British soldier Paul Farthing has launched a campaign on social media to be able to relocate more than 150 cats and dogs from an animal shelter he founded in Kabul.
Meanwhile, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said he had spent a lot of time discussing the evacuation of pets from Afghanistan. The conservative politician said in an interview with Radio Times. Wallace had initially rejected the measure, citing the priority of people at risk from the Taliban, but eventually the pressure yielded.
Farthing’s attempt to get into a plane at the airport with about 70 staff and animals rented by supporters failed Thursday due to missing documents, and the operation was called off due to the chaos that followed the attack. The Briton tweeted that they were fired after US President Joe Biden recently changed the rules of the document. “We went through hell to get there and were sent away in the chaos of those devastating explosions.”
Farthing had previously offered to take other people on a chartered plane. Animals must travel in the cargo area. “If he comes with his animals, we’ll be looking for a place for his plane,” Wallace wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
According to Wallace, the British rescue mission is scheduled to end on Friday. It now seems more than doubtful whether Farthing, his staff and animals will be able to leave before the end of the US military operation on August 31.