Devizes MP Danny Kruger shares 'deep dismay' over Afghanistan

Danny Kruger’s Devizes constituency covers a particularly military area, including garrisons around the Salisbury Plain training ground. He said that he was concerned about the “sacrifice” of veterans “endling like this”.

He said: “As MP for the Tidworth-Bulford-Larkhill garrisons, I represent thousands of veterans of the Afghan conflict and I share their deep dismay at the idea of all their sacrifice ending like this. I look forward to the debate on Wednesday and hearing about Government plans for refugee resettlement.”

There have been calls for an apology from the Prime Minister on the sacrifice of British soldiers in Afghanistan, to which Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said: “I fully understand that this must be an extremely difficult time for service personnel who served in Afghanistan and indeed the families of those who lost loved ones.

“As the PM has said, the UK can be proud of what has been done in Afghanistan over the past 20 years. It is thanks to their sacrifices that we’ve seen now no Al-Qaeda attacks against the West for a very long time, there are millions of girls and young women who have been educated in Afghanistan, and that cannot be taken away.”

Following the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 with coalition forces consisting of the USA, UK and others, 456 British military personnel have been killed on operations in the country, of over 100,000 deployed.

The majority of troops left in 2014, with around 750 remaining to train Afghan security forces until July of this year. This followed a peace deal signed by Donald Trump in 2020, with his successor as US President Joe Biden confirming a withdrawal of its forces in April.

In the past week, the situation has changed dramatically as the Taliban took control in large areas of the country, including the capital, Kabul. An evacuation effort is currently underway, ahead of a debate in Parliament on the situation on Wednesday.