Trump’s jibe at UK soldiers in Afghanistan ‘deeply disappointing’, says UK minister
Minister Stephen Kinnock ‘deeply disappointed’ by Trump’s false Afghanistan claims
- Donald Trump's claim that NATO troops avoided the front lines in Afghanistan has been met with widespread condemnation from UK politicians and veterans.
- Care minister Stephen Kinnock called Trump's comments 'deeply disappointing' and 'plainly wrong', highlighting that NATO's Article 5 was invoked to support the US after 9/11, leading to many British and European casualties.
- According to Help for Heroes, 1,186 non-American NATO troops died in the Afghanistan conflict, with the UK suffering the second-highest number of military deaths after the US.
- Relatives of fallen British soldiers, including Lucy Aldridge, expressed their distress, while veteran MPs from both Conservative and Labour parties refuted Trump's assertions as bearing no resemblance to reality.
- Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey criticised Trump for questioning the sacrifice of soldiers, noting Trump's own history of avoiding military service.