PEN Farthing's rescued dogs are adjusting to life in quarantine after jetting into Heathrow from Afghanistan over the weekend.
But the rescue mission itself has been heavily criticised for making it appear the West was prioritises evacuating dogs over saving Afghan people.
Pen Farthing himself has argued the animals travelled in the hold of a plane where humans can't travel, therefore meaning the dogs and cats he saved were not taking the place ofpeople on board.
But while he refused to leave Afghanistan until he knew his dogs would be with him, Farthing did leave 68 members of his mostly female Afghan staff behind at the airport when their paperwork wasn't approved.
Such a move will be exploited by Taliban, Al Qaeda and ISIS extremists around the world, one Guardian columnist has claimed, as they will use it to further their propaganda that the West considers Muslims lives cheap.
Read our Kabul explosion live blog for the latest updates…
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CROWDS FLEE TO LAND BORDERS TO ESCAPE TALIBAN NOW FLIGHTS HAVE ENDED
Crowds seeking to flee Afghanistan flocked to its borders while long queues formed at banks on Wednesday, as an administrative vacuum after the Taliban’s takeover left foreign donors unsure of how to respond to a looming humanitarian crisis.
The Islamist militia focused on keeping banks, hospitals and government machinery running after the final withdrawal of U.S. forces on Monday brought an end to a massive airlift of Afghans who had helped Western nations during the 20-year war.
With Kabul’s airport inoperable, private efforts to help Afghans fearful of Taliban reprisals focused on arranging safe passage across the land-locked nation’s borders with Iran, Pakistan and central Asian states.
At Torkham, a major border crossing with Pakistan that is east of the Khyber Pass, a Pakistani official said: “A large number of people are waiting on the Afghanistan side for the opening of the gate.”
Thousands of people also crowded at the Islam Qala border post between Afghanistan and Iran, witnesses said.
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FOREIGN SECRETARY DOMINIC RAAB SAYS HE IS GOING TO AREA AROUND AFGHANISTAN SOON
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he is leaving to go to the region around Afghanistan after a grilling by MPs.
He told the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee: "We're always very careful about signalling travel movements because of the security implications.
"But I can tell you I'm leaving after this committee to go to the region."
He was then grilled by committee chair Tom Tugendhat about when a Foreign Office minister went to one of Afghanistan's neighbours such as Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and said he did not know off the top of his head.
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PEN FARTHING SAYS ‘HUMAN MISERY’ HE SAW IN KABUL ‘WILL TAKE A LONG TIME TO GET OUT OF HIS HEAD’
The ex marine continued: “I think it’ll take a long time to ever get out of my head having to say goodbye to the two members of staff who drove the truck for me to get me into the airport along roads just lined with people.
“There were thousands and thousands of them in makeshift camps waiting for their turn to try to get into the airport – women, children…”
He added: “And you should have seen the human misery in that hangar – the possessions people had left behind – photographs, hats, children’s toys.
“I was sitting amongst all that when someone tweeted about my foul-mouthed rant [to Defence Minister Ben Wallace’s special advisor Peter Quentin
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WHAT TIME DOES DOMINIC RAABSPEAK AND HOW CAN I WATCH IT?
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is due to appear before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee where he will answer questions about the Government's handling of the evacuation.
The session is due to start at 2pm – so in 10 minutes time.
It is not being held in the House of Commons – Parliament does not technically return until Monday – but he will grilled by a cross-party group of MPs. The committee is chaired by Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat – a former soldier who gave a moving speech during the Afghanistan debate about the sense of betrayal and waste many veterans felt.
It will be broadcast live online on the Parliament TV website and it is likely to carried on the major UK TV networks such as the BBC News channel, BBC Parliament and Sky News.
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DOZENS OF HERO SERVICE DOGS FACING SLAUGHTER AFTER BEING ABANDONED TO THE MERCY OF TALIBAN AS US TROOPS FLEE AFGHANISTAN
The specially-trained pooches have been left at the terror group’s mercy after the final US jet left Kabul last night, with the innocent animals now facing a “death sentence”.
Dozens of service dogs have been left behind, as well as a number of US citizens and billions of pounds worth of military equipment.
The abandonment has been slammed by animal welfare charity American Humane, which has branded the situation “senseless”.
Robin R. Ganzert, the organisation’s CEO said in a statement: “I am devastated by reports that the American government is pulling out of Kabul and leaving behind brave US military contract working dogs to be tortured and killed at the hand of our enemies.
“These brave dogs do the same dangerous, lifesaving work as our military working dogs, and deserved a far better fate than the one to which they have been condemned.”
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PEN FARTHING DESCRIBES HOW UK SOLDIERS HAD TO GIVE WAY TO TALIBAN
Pen Farthing has spoken out about his ordeal in Kabul as he attempted to evacuate his charity, Nowzad, and his 173 rescue animals from the Afghan capital.
“At the airport the British troops are on the inner side of the barbed wire,” he explained yesterday in his first full interview since leaving the UK for Norway to be reunited with his new wife, Kaisa, 30, who fled their home in Kabul two weeks ago.
“You can talk to them but they can’t do anything as the Taliban check people at gunpoint. The Afghan people were standing there with all their belongings in a line.
“There was one guy whose paperwork they didn’t like so they’re like, ‘Come on, out’, with an AK rifle in his back.
“I was just watching this guy trying to wave at his wife and kids as he was being dragged off at gunpoint.”
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BRITAIN FACES HIGHER TERROR THREAT AFTER AFGHAN WITHDRAWAL
Britain's frantic withdrawal from Afghanistan has ratcheted up the threat of terror attacks at home, the former head of MI6 has warned.
Sir John Sawers said without a presence on the ground Western intelligence would find it harder to flush out extremists plotting attacks.
He said any aid handouts to the Taliban must hinge on them stamping down on groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda in the country.
Ministers have also warned of the increased national security risk since the insurgents seized power.
Downing Street confirmed discussions with the Taliban have begun as top diplomat Sir Simon Glass flew out to break bread with the group.
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PEN FARTHING SAYS HE’S ‘NOT WORRIED WHAT POLITICIANS ARE SAYING’ ABOUT HIM AS HE APOLOGISES TO PETER QUENTIN
Pen continued: “Peter Quentin had told me six days before the staff had been approved to leave the country but, for whatever reason, they wouldn’t give me the paperwork.
“You can imagine as the window between where we were and when the Americans were pulling out got smaller and smaller I was getting pretty stressed.
“Quentin was the only person I had a phone number for. I guess that’s why he got both barrels. As far as the person who decided to release that voicemail is concerned, if that’s their priority in life let them crack on. I’ve apologised for the language I used but that’s it.”
He defiantly added: “I’m not worried about what some politician is saying about me. That’s not on my radar.
“What’s on my radar is that this ill-thought out withdrawal has destroyed a country overnight and cost countless lives.”
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PEN FARTHING ‘DOESN’T EVEN REMEMBER’ LEAVING ANGRY VOICEMAIL FOR GOVERNMENT AIDE
The ex-marine hit headlines after a leaked voicemail message appeared to reveal the animal activist leaving a tirade for a Government aide.
But Pen says his recollections of leaving the angry message are vague.
He explained: “I don’t even remember making it ‘I totally forgot about it until somebody sent me a tweet that said, ‘Pen Farthing’s explosive rant…’ I thought, ‘What the hell are they going on about?”
“It was a heat-of-the-moment thing. We needed paperwork for our staff and their families to be able to go to the airport.”
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PEN FARTHING SAYS ‘HUMAN MISERY’ HE SAW IN KABUL ‘WILL TAKE A LONG TIME TO GET OUT OF HIS HEAD’
The ex marine continued: “I think it’ll take a long time to ever get out of my head having to say goodbye to the two members of staff who drove the truck for me to get me into the airport along roads just lined with people.
“There were thousands and thousands of them in makeshift camps waiting for their turn to try to get into the airport – women, children…”
He added: “And you should have seen the human misery in that hangar – the possessions people had left behind – photographs, hats, children’s toys.
“I was sitting amongst all that when someone tweeted about my foul-mouthed rant [to Defence Minister Ben Wallace’s special advisor Peter Quentin
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GLOATING TALIBAN POSE IN FIGHTER JETS AS SATELLITE SNAP SHOWS AIRCRAFT TREASURE TROVE
The grinning jihadis sat in the cockpits of gunships and rode on the bonnets of US Air Force Humvees as they strutted about the airport hours after Joe Biden’s troops finally left Afghanistan.
Taliban Badri special force fighters were pictured training on the grounds of Kabul airport while other jihadis rummaged through hangars full of discarded kit and abandoned helicopters.
In one picture, a fighter is seen taking pictures of the damaged Chinook choppers left behind, while others explore the inside of a US Air Force plane.
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AFGHAN FORMER ENGLISH TEACHER ‘REGRETS’ WORKING WITH THE UK
A former English language teacher stranded in Afghanistan said he “regrets” working with the UK mission in the country because of the grave danger he now faces.
The unnamed teacher said he has been targeted by the Taliban because his face is on billboards in Afghanistan advertising English classes.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “I regret working with the English. I regret helping people learn English. Why did I work for people who left me and fled and left me alone here? My background is hurting me nowadays.
“They are looking for me because I’ve got pictures in billboards advertised for classes. Also, I worked for the British Council. I worked for the UK for the past eight or nine years.”
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DOMINIC RAAB DENIES CLAIMS HE CALLED AFGHANISTAN ‘YESTERDAY’S WAR’
The Foreign Secretary has denied claims in the Sunday Times he did not take regular calls from Afghan and Pakistani ministers during the evacuation from Kabul airport, allegedly because he thought Afghanistan was “yesterday’s war”.
Dominic Raab told Sky News: “Anyone that is toddling off to the Sunday Times or any other newspaper at a time of crisis, including the evacuation which has been two weeks running, giving buck-passing briefings either at me or the FCDO is frankly not credible and it is deeply irresponsible.
“I have spoken, for example to foreign minister Qureshi (of Pakistan) more intensively given the evacuation but we have absolutely been on this, and you can see we have been on this… why? Because we have got 17,000 people out.”
He later told LBC: “I can’t tell you my precise call sheet for the last six months.”
But he added he was part of a “team of ministers” and delegated some phone calls to colleagues including Lord Ahmad, saying: “It is right that you have delegation, a division of labour if you are going to operate effectively as a team. Anyone who tells you otherwise has not done a job like this.
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ONLY HALF OF 69 FEMALE AFGHAN MPs EVACUATED
Around half of Afghanistan's female MPs are stuck in the country and now risk being murdered by the Taliban.
The Islamist group has already forced women out of their jobs and it is believed the women – many of whom have actively campaigned for women's rights over the past 20 years – now risk being murdered.
When questioned about this by journalist Tom Newton Dunn on Times Radio this morning, Home Office minister Victoria Atkins said she was “very, very conscious of the threats that so many people are facing”.
Newton Dunn had earlier tweeted a thread about the plight of these 30 plus women who are now in hiding with some forced to move from safe house to safe house with their families to escape the fighters hunting them down.
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DOZENS OF HERO SERVICE DOGS FACING SLAUGHTER AFTER BEING ABANDONED TO THE MERCY OF TALIBAN AS US TROOPS FLEE AFGHANISTAN
The specially-trained pooches have been left at the terror group’s mercy after the final US jet left Kabul last night, with the innocent animals now facing a “death sentence”.
Dozens of service dogs have been left behind, as well as a number of US citizens and billions of pounds worth of military equipment.
The abandonment has been slammed by animal welfare charity American Humane, which has branded the situation “senseless”.
Robin R. Ganzert, the organisation’s CEO said in a statement: “I am devastated by reports that the American government is pulling out of Kabul and leaving behind brave US military contract working dogs to be tortured and killed at the hand of our enemies.
“These brave dogs do the same dangerous, lifesaving work as our military working dogs, and deserved a far better fate than the one to which they have been condemned.”
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EX-MARINE EVACUATES ANIMALS FROM KABUL – BUT SHELTER STAFF LEFT BEHIND
A former Royal Marine has succeeded in evacuating to the UK around 170 dogs and cats from an animal shelter in Afghanistan.
But Paul “Pen” Farthing’s privately funded charter flight, which arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport at about 7.30am on Sunday, was not carrying his 24 staff and dependents from the Nowzad shelter in Kabul.
Dominic Dyer, an animal welfare campaigner and supporter of Mr Farthing, said the former marine was forced to travel back alone after being told it was not possible to find people to fill the plane’s seats.
Mr Farthing’s campaign to get workers and animals from the shelter out of Afghanistan has caused controversy in recent days, after receiving a huge amount of public support.
Mr Dyer said the shelter staff were “still in their homes” with the charity in contact with them, adding that efforts would be made to try to get them out of Afghanistan.
“They are one of thousands of Afghans… that have a right to leave the country but actually have no safe passage out at the moment,” he said.
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HERO GARDENER VOWS TO PROTECT BRITAIN’S WAR GRAVES FROM BEING DESECRATED BY THE TALIBAN
The names of our soldiers killed in Afghanistan are etched on black stone slabs in the British Cemetery in Kabul.
Brave Ainullah Rahimi, 53, said: “As long as I’m alive, I will look after these graves and these memorials.
“If the Taliban come I will tell them this is my job, and I will do my job as long as I have life.”
Missionaries and aid workers also have graves there.
Ainullah’s cousin Abdul Samay, 38, cared for the cemetery until he fled to England with his family on an RAF mercy flight last week.
Abdul told The Sun: “Everyone knew that I worked for the British.
“I was afraid the Taliban would punish me.”
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MUM OF BABY INJURED IN KABUL BOMBING BEGS PM TO HELP REUNITE HER WITH HER TWO CHILDREN
THE grieving young mum of a baby boy gravely hurt in the Kabul Airport suicide bombing is pleading with PM Boris Johnson to help reunite her with her two children.
Basbibi Raza, 19, wept as she revealed that Muhammad Raza — two next month — needs a life-saving operation in the next 48 hours.
The tot was hit by shrapnel in the blast which killed his dad Miraj and grandad Sultan, 48.
He has already had surgery in Afghanistan where he remains with his five-month-old sister, Kalsoom.
Basbibi was split from her family moments before Thursday’s attack which killed at least 170, including 13 US troops and three Brits.
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AFGHAN FORMER ENGLISH TEACHER ‘REGRETS’ WORKING WITH THE UK
A former English language teacher stranded in Afghanistan said he “regrets” working with the UK mission in the country because of the grave danger he now faces.
The unnamed teacher said he has been targeted by the Taliban because his face is on billboards in Afghanistan advertising English classes.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “I regret working with the English. I regret helping people learn English. Why did I work for people who left me and fled and left me alone here? My background is hurting me nowadays.
“They are looking for me because I’ve got pictures in billboards advertised for classes. Also, I worked for the British Council. I worked for the UK for the past eight or nine years.”
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CROWDS FLEE TO LAND BORDERS TO ESCAPE TALIBAN NOW FLIGHTS HAVE ENDED
Crowds seeking to flee Afghanistan flocked to its borders while long queues formed at banks on Wednesday, as an administrative vacuum after the Taliban's takeover left foreign donors unsure of how to respond to a looming humanitarian crisis.
The Islamist militia focused on keeping banks, hospitals and government machinery running after the final withdrawal of U.S. forces on Monday brought an end to a massive airlift of Afghans who had helped Western nations during the 20-year war.
With Kabul's airport inoperable, private efforts to help Afghans fearful of Taliban reprisals focused on arranging safe passage across the land-locked nation’s borders with Iran, Pakistan and central Asian states.
At Torkham, a major border crossing with Pakistan that is east of the Khyber Pass, a Pakistani official said: "A large number of people are waiting on the Afghanistan side for the opening of the gate."
Thousands of people also crowded at the Islam Qala border post between Afghanistan and Iran, witnesses said.
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PEN FARTHING SAYS HE’S ‘NOT WORRIED WHAT POLITICIANS ARE SAYING’ ABOUT HIM AS HE APOLOGISES TO PETER QUENTIN
Pen continued: “Peter Quentin had told me six days before the staff had been approved to leave the country but, for whatever reason, they wouldn’t give me the paperwork.
“You can imagine as the window between where we were and when the Americans were pulling out got smaller and smaller I was getting pretty stressed.
“Quentin was the only person I had a phone number for. I guess that’s why he got both barrels. As far as the person who decided to release that voicemail is concerned, if that’s their priority in life let them crack on. I’ve apologised for the language I used but that’s it.”
He defiantly added: “I’m not worried about what some politician is saying about me. That’s not on my radar.
“What’s on my radar is that this ill-thought out withdrawal has destroyed a country overnight and cost countless lives.”
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PEN FARTHING ‘DOESN’T EVEN REMEMBER’ LEAVING ANGRY VOICEMAIL FOR GOVERNMENT AIDE
The ex-marine hit headlines after a leaked voicemail message appeared to reveal the animal activist leaving a tirade for a Government aide.
But Pen says his recollections of leaving the angry message are vague.
He explained: “I don’t even remember making it ‘I totally forgot about it until somebody sent me a tweet that said, ‘Pen Farthing’s explosive rant…’ I thought, ‘What the hell are they going on about?”
“It was a heat-of-the-moment thing. We needed paperwork for our staff and their families to be able to go to the airport.”
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PEN FARTHING’S DOGS ARE IN QUARANTINE
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PEN FARTHING SAYS ‘HUMAN MISERY’ HE SAW IN KABUL ‘WILL TAKE A LONG TIME TO GET OUT OF HIS HEAD’
The ex marine continued: “I think it’ll take a long time to ever get out of my head having to say goodbye to the two members of staff who drove the truck for me to get me into the airport along roads just lined with people.
“There were thousands and thousands of them in makeshift camps waiting for their turn to try to get into the airport – women, children…”
He added: “And you should have seen the human misery in that hangar – the possessions people had left behind – photographs, hats, children’s toys.
“I was sitting amongst all that when someone tweeted about my foul-mouthed rant [to Defence Minister Ben Wallace’s special advisor Peter Quentin
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PEN FARTHING SAYS TALIBAN FIGHTERS SHOT AND KILLED RESCUE DOGS
Pen told the Mail Online that as he passed through the gates of Kabul Airport, he received a text saying Taliban fighters had shot tow of his friend’s dogs.
The former marine recalled: “It was from my mate Dave who ran a security company in Kabul.
“He got out literally two hours before me, but kept his compound and left his two pet dogs with the staff.
“He texted: ‘the bastards just shot Brutus. They went round the compound, saw the dogs, dragged them into the open and shot them.”
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