The CIA calls it ‘blowback’, when the unintended consequences of what seemed like a good policy at the time come back to bite you. The classic example is Western sponsorship of radical Islamist fighters against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. That covert war against the Kremlin was a significant factor in crippling … Read more
A British soldier who lost his leg after stepping on an explosive during his second tour of Afghanistan, and feared the incident left him infertile, has recently welcomed ‘miracle’ triplets. Tyne Rogers, 30, from Birmingham, West Midlands, thought he may never have a family of his own because he feared nobody would be attracted to … Read more
No more British troops will be prosecuted over Afghanistan war crimes, Veteran’s minister Johnny Mercer says after £10m probe was closed without bringing any charges Inquiry by Royal Military Police found no evidence with which to bring charges At peak, investigation looked into 675 criminal allegations from 159 people Comes as UK government proposes laws … Read more
Care home manager is jailed after fleecing her patients to send £23,000 to conman she fell in love with on Christian dating site Helen Hughes, 56, took money from residents of the Ashton Park Care Home She took £23,000 in total from five different residents in Newport, South Wales She gave the money to a … Read more
Senior officer at nuclear police force faces the sack after being accused of wearing fake Iraq and Afghanistan war medals to awards ceremony Supt Glenn McAleavey accused of wearing fake medals to awards ceremony He could be sacked from his position at the Civil Nuclear Constabulary McAleavey served in Royal Navy for 4 years before becoming … Read more
Ministry of Defence pays out £53.8m in ten years to more than 3,000 troops suffering from mental trauma, figures reveal The Ministry of Defence made more than 3,000 settlements for PTSD in 10 years It also made 64 court settlements to personnel averaging £183,000 each More than £2million was paid in one settlement to a Gulf War … Read more
Serbia sends the army to its border with Croatia to ‘secure’ three camps holding 1,500 migrants trying to reach the EU amid claims of ‘harassment’ against local people Serbian Defence Ministry deployed army to a town near the border with Croatia Told to ‘secure’ three migrant camps housing some 1,500 people near Sid President Vucic … Read more
Checking in… Rory Stewart: The former mayoral candidate and Conservative minister talks about nearly being arrested in Nepal and eating snake in China By Tamara Hinson For The Daily Mail Published: 09:48 BST, 9 May 2020 | Updated: 11:59 BST, 9 May 2020 Ex-Conservative minister Rory Stewart This week it’s wobbly screen time for former … Read more
George W. Bush told a State Department official who tried to persuade him not to invade Afghanistan: ‘F*** it, we’re going to war’. The former president gave the blunt comment at Camp David days after 9/11 as he decided whether to go after the Taliban, a new documentary reveals. Mike Morell, Bush’s briefer about the … Read more
We are failing our heroes: Families of Afghan interpreters who served alongside British troops battling the Taliban STILL can’t get visas to come to UK The Government vowed in March last year that translators who helped British soldiers in the fight against the Taliban could bring their loved ones to join them Ministers said the … Read more
Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher was on a mission to investigate a Taliban compound near Sangin in Afghanistan in 2008 when he accidentally triggered a booby-trapped grenade. He and his men were heading back to base under cover of darkness when he stumbled into a four-metre tripwire linked to the explosive. Instead of running for cover, the … Read more
The acclaimed Fleet Street photographer John Downing MBE, who survived interrogation by Idi Amin’s special forces and documented war zones around the world, has died aged 79. Downing visited more than 100 countries including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Rwanda and Uganda during a distinguished career, bringing harrowing images of conflict to newspaper front pages in the UK. … Read more
Kym Marsh has revealed she hasn’t seen her boyfriend Scott Ratcliff, 31, properly for seven months after his return from his Afghanistan tour was delayed. The actress, 43, appeared via video link on Lorraine on Wednesday where she described what was already a ‘hard situation’, has been made even tougher after his return was postponed … Read more