UK Foreign Office Emails Suggest Johnson Authorized Animal Evacuation From Afghanistan
Emails published on Wednesday by a parliamentary committee investigating the British withdrawal from Afghanistan during the Taliban (under UN sanctions for terrorism) takeover suggest that Prime Minister Boris Johnson intervened to help evacuate animals and staff from a charity run by a former British soldier
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2022) Emails published on Wednesday by a parliamentary committee investigating the British withdrawal from Afghanistan during the Taliban (under UN sanctions for terrorism) takeover suggest that Prime Minister Boris Johnson intervened to help evacuate animals and staff from a charity run by a former British soldier.
Last year, Johnson labeled "complete nonsense" claims made by Foreign Office official turned whistleblower Raphael Marshall, who accused the UK government of having prioritized saving animals over people during Operation Pitting, as the evacuation of British troops and staff from Kabul was codenamed.
However, new evidence published by the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee includes an email sent on August 25, 2021 by a Foreign Office official to the special cases team in which the sender explained that another charity was seeking help to get their staff out.
"In light of the PM's decision earlier today to evacuate the staff of the Nowzad animal charity, the (animal charity - name redacted) is asking for agreement to the entry of (details redacted) staff, all Afghan nationals," a message said.
Another email said that Nowzad's evacuation received a lot of publicity and "the PM has just authorised their staff and animals to be evacuated," so the sender asked for similar consideration.
Reacting to the reports, Labour lawmaker and shadow defense secretary John Healey wrote on Twitter that "once again, the PM has been caught lying."
Healey stressed that Johnson should never have given priority to flying animals out of Afghanistan while Afghan nationals who collaborated with British troops were left behind.
"We need to know why the PM overruled the Defence Secretary with this decision," he added.
The publication of the emails comes as Johnson faces calls to resign over a string of parties held at his official residence on Downing Street during the COVID-19 lockdown.