Trump's claim Nato troops avoided Afghanistan front line sparks outrage in UK

The allegations that Nato troops remained a little off the front lines during the Afghan war has sparked outrage in the United Kingdom, from politicians and veterans' families. The remarks by UK minister and Afghanistan veteran Al Carns were completely ridiculoUS, according to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who described them as

flat-out nonsense. Trump's remarks, according to the mother of seriously wounded soldier Ben Parkinson, were the

absolute insult. Following the 9/11 attacks, the United Kingdom was one of many allies to join the US in Afghanistan. After Nato's collective security claUSe was invoked for the first and only time. 457 British service staff were killed during the war.

According to 5 of Nato, an assault on one person is deemed a crime against all. On Thursday, Trump told Fox News that he was not positive the military alliance would be there for the US if we ever needed them.We've never needed them,he said, adding:They've certainly never asked anything of them. They'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, he said,

and if they did, they stayed a little behind, a bit off the front lines. In a video posted on X, Carns, the country's ambassador for the armed forces who served on multiple tours in Afghanistan,

the world rallied to the support of the US,Carn recalled.Our departments, our forces, and our politicians - we all stood shoulder to shoulder and responded. Don't really add up and his remarks don't have any resemblance to reality, Health and Social Care Minister Stephen Kinnock told the BBC earlier this week.

They put their lives on the line to protect our country. President Trump's words

disgust me,

he said. Far from avoiding the front line, British and Canada deployed troops in the most volatile provinces of all - the Taliban heartlands of Helmand and Kandahar. British troops were joined by Danish and Estonian troops in Helmand, the site of the deadliest war. In the midst of war, both soldiers were wounded. In Helmand, the majority of the 457 British troops who died in Afghanistan over a period of nearly 20 years were killed. Hundreds more suffered injuries and lost limbs. Capt. Andy Reid, a veteran of Afghanistan who lost both his legs and his right arm after stepping on an improvised explosive unit (IED), said Trump's words were

completely disrespectful.

Not a day goes by when we are not in some sort of pain, physically or mentally reflecting on the conflict,

he told BBC Breakfast. Reid recalled serving with American soldiers in Afghanistan during his time in Afghanistan, adding:

If they were on the front line and I was standing right next to them, we were obviously on the first line as well.

The mother of veteran Ben Parkinson, who was seriously wounded in Afghanistan, said Trump's words were o insulting and difficult to hear.

I can tell you, the Taliban did not plant IEDs miles and miles back from the front line,

Diane Dernie said.

Dernie has ordered Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to

stand up for his own armed forces

and call out the US president. Starmer, according to Kinnock, will speak directly to Trump about his remarks. The sacrifice of British and other Nato troops, according to Conservative leader Badenoch, deserved

respect not denigration. Trump in Afghanistan, as Nato allies weren't on the front line, says the narrator.

British, Canadian, and Nato troops served and died with the US for 20 years,

she said on X. For clarification, the BBC has contacted the White House and Pentagon.

Labour MP Emily Thornberry said on Thursday that it was a coMPlete insult to the service personnel killed in the war, adding that the remarks were much more than a mistake, according to BBC's Question Time.

We've always been there whenever the Americans have wanted us,

she said, calling Trump a man who has never seen any action but now commander in chief and knows nothing about how it's that America has been shielded. The US is the UK's friend, according to Thornberry, chair of the foreign affairs select committee, but the US has

behaved in a way that is threatening, rude, and has deliberately sought to destabilize US.

British MP Ben Obese-Jecty, a former British Army officer who served in Afghanistan, has also opposed the US president's remarks, saying it was

sad to see our country's sacrifice, as well as those of our Nato allies,

the US He wrote on X:

I don't believe US military forces support President Trump's image; their words do them a disservice as our closest military allies.

On social media, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey condemned the remarks, saying:

457 British troops died in Afghanistan. Trump avoided military service five times. How dare he question their sacrifice.

During the Vietnam War, Trump received five deferrals from a military draft, four for research and one for bone spurs, as well as a calcium buildup in the heels. Robert Jenrick, the former Shadow Justice Secretary who recently defected to the United Kingdom, said the remarks were "offensive and incorrect. During his second term in office, the US president has consistently chastised Nato, accUSing its member states of not investing enough on defense.

For clarification, the BBC has contacted the Ministry of Defence for clarification.

In October 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who they said were harbouring Osama Bin Laden and other al-Qaeda figures connected to the 9/11 attacks. During the US-led conflict, Nato nations deployed troops and military equipment to support the US backed war. More than 3,500 coalition troops had died as of 2021, when the United States pulled out of the country - around two-thirds of them Americans. In the war against the United Kingdom, which claimed 2,461 civilian deaths, the UK suffered the second-highest number of military deaths in the country's second-largest conflict