Starmer condemns Trump’s Afghanistan comments as ‘insulting’ as UK, allies push back
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer denounced as “insulting” Donald Trump’s claim that British troops stayed off the front lines in Afghanistan, drawing cross-party anger in Britain and rebukes from allies and veterans’ groups.
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Trump, in a Fox News interview aired Monday, suggested NATO partners had not borne the brunt of combat, saying, “They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan. And they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.” He appeared unaware that 457 British personnel were killed during the war, which began after the Sept. 11 attacks when NATO invoked its collective defense clause for the first and only time.
“Let me start by paying tribute to 457 of our armed services who lost their lives in Afghanistan,” Starmer said in a video statement from Downing Street. “There are many also who were injured, some with life-changing injuries, and so I consider President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and frankly, appalling, and I’m not surprised they’ve caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured.” He added that if he had misspoken in such a way, he “would certainly apologise.”
Britain was the second-largest contributor to the U.S.-led coalition, with more than 150,000 U.K. personnel serving in Afghanistan between September 2001 and August 2021, according to the Ministry of Defence. Official figures show 405 of the U.K.’s 457 fatalities were caused by hostile action. The United States lost more than 2,400 service members. Other NATO nations, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Denmark, also suffered combat deaths; Poland lost 43 troops.
Britain’s Prince Harry, a former Army Air Corps co-pilot gunner who served two frontline tours in Afghanistan, said the sacrifices of those who fought and died “deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect.” Noting NATO’s 2001 invocation of Article 5, he said, “It meant that every allied nation was obliged to stand with the United States in Afghanistan, in pursuit of our shared security. Allies answered that call. I served there. I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there.”
Reaction in the U.K. spanned political lines. Defence Secretary John Healey wrote on X that British troops who died were “heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation.” Armed Forces Minister Al Carns, who served five tours in Afghanistan, called Trump’s remarks “utterly ridiculous.” Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservatives, said the comments were “complete nonsense” that could weaken the NATO alliance.
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK and a longtime Trump ally, also pushed back. “Donald Trump is wrong,” he posted on X. “For 20 years our armed forces fought bravely alongside America’s in Afghanistan.”
Poland’s Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said he expected respect for Polish veterans “who have proven how much they serve this country and our commitments to allies.”
Families of the fallen and veterans’ organizations voiced anguish and frustration. Lucy Aldridge, whose son William died at 18 in Afghanistan, told the Mirror that the remarks were “extremely upsetting.” Mark Atkinson, director general of the Royal British Legion, said the service and sacrifice of British troops “cannot be called into question.”
Additional reporting by PA.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
