Hundreds of Afghan commandos to be brought to Britain as minister finally admits troops were employed by UK

Hundreds of Afghan special forces soldiers and their family members will be allowed to resettle in the UK after ministers admitted that new evidence has confirmed they were paid by the government.

Luke Pollard, the armed forces minister, told the Commons on Monday that a Ministry of Defence review, sparked by campaigning MPs and a joint investigation by The Independent, Lighthouse Reports and Sky News, has found that members of Afghan specialist units were directly employed by the UK government, despite previous denials.

Thousands of these soldiers, who fought side-by-side with British troops, had been denied relocation to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap). Conservative ministers had told parliament that these soldiers, known as the Triples, were not directly employed by the UK.

However, Mr Pollard confirmed that this was wrong. Around 2,000 applications by members of Afghan specialist units, who had previously been rejected for help, are being reviewed.

About 25 per cent of these are expected to have their decisions overturned, Mr Pollard said. Eligible Afghans and their families are now being invited to relocate to the UK, the minister said.

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Mr Pollard told the Commons: “Officials have now confirmed that there is evidence of payments from the UK government to members of Afghan specialist units including CF333 and ATF444 [the Triples] and for some individuals this demonstrates a direct employment relationship. This is evidence that goes beyond previously identified top-up payments and reimbursements for operational expenses, which do not demonstrate such an employment relationship in themselves.

“This is of course contrary to the position reported to parliament by the previous government that no such evidence of direct employment existed.”

The joint investigation found that dozens of Afghan commandos who were paid by and worked “hand in glove” with the British military had been tortured or killed by the Taliban since the fall of Kabul.

The investigation revealed for the first time that members of CF333 and ATF444 had received a salary from the British government. Despite this close connection most of the Triples were not evacuated in August 2021, and many were subsequently rejected for help by the MoD.

In some cases seemingly no consideration had been given to evidence submitted by Afghans to the MoD of their employment, training and closeness with UK special forces.

Following the investigation, government ministers continued to throw doubt on suggestions that the Triples were paid directly by the UK, with James Heappey, who was then the armed forces minister, saying advice from MoD officials was to the contrary.

Mr Pollard said on Monday that the slow pace of the MoD’s review into these applications has been “a source of deep concern”. He assured MPs that “if a decision is overturned as part of this review, applicants are informed immediately”.

He added: “I have already begun to sign eligible decisions to relocate eligible Triples to the UK.”

Mr Pollard said that Conservative ministers’ incorrect statements to parliament about payments to these Afghans was not a “conscious effort to mislead”. Instead he said there had been a “failure to access and share the right digital records and challenges with information flows across departmental lines”.

He explained: “I am clear that this sort of systems failure is not good enough.”

The minister promised: “Eligible former Triples and their families will now rightly receive the sanctuary that their work in support of our troops in Afghanistan deserves.

“I am confident that we will be able to relocate those eligible to safety and to start a new life here in the UK. We will keep pushing forward this work at pace, knowing that we did right by those who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with armed forces in Afghanistan.”

Conservative MP Sir Julian Lewis raised concerns with Mr Pollard about whether any employment records are being withheld “for example by special forces, that would help identify former member of the Triples”.

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Mr Pollard said the review was still ongoing but stressed that top-up payments or operational payments were “excluded” as evidence of employment.

Labour MP Louise Jones asked what would be done for other units, not in CF333 and ATF444, that also worked closely with British troops. Mr Pollard said that the review would also consider other units in due course.

Responding to the news, Sarah Fenby-Dixon, a campaigner at Refugee Aid Network which has supported many Triples, said: “I am glad that the current government is now acknowledging what we have been saying for the last three years.

“The Triples did brave and dangerous work in support of the UK’s mission in Afghanistan and as a result have come under great threat from the Taliban. They deserve to be relocated to safety in the UK and it is gratifying to see that this is now happening.

“It is hoped that the review will be completed quickly and everything will be done to get these people to safety as soon as possible.”

The Independent has documented numerous cases of Afghans who worked with British troops but who have not been accepted for relocation to the UK. Many have felt forced to take perilous journeys to the UK in the hope of help on arrival.

Those who are accepted under the MoD’s Arap policy are being housed in military bases around the UK. Ministers have pledged to move these Afghans swiftly into armed forces accommodation or other suitable homes.