When the “correct” title is too long, you’re free to edit.
WAR Kabul Rescue Animal Evacuations updates - also other privately funded evacuations being stopped by the UK and US Governments
- Thread starter Melodi
- Start date
Melodi
Disaster Cat
I did, the original was even longer (lol) but I've changed it totally and I think it reads better.
If you want something done, you best have the will, the skill and the assets to make it happen.
Tons of drugs and thousands of people get smuggled every day. In the face of government opposition .........
(And this is an EXPENSIVE proposition, unlikely to be self funding. A group of First Generation Delta guys decided to go free lance. Went bust toot suite.)
Tons of drugs and thousands of people get smuggled every day. In the face of government opposition .........
(And this is an EXPENSIVE proposition, unlikely to be self funding. A group of First Generation Delta guys decided to go free lance. Went bust toot suite.)
War Paws
4m ·
Latest update from Kabul Small Animal Rescue
Cracking on with the task at hand despite the daily challenges.
Kabul Small Animal Rescue
tSpi1ohnsoredoc ·
Our staff are working around the clock to finish preparations for our evacuation flights and continue providing care and comfort to our animals. We still don't know when those flights will be, if staff will be able to go on the same plane as animals, or where they might land. We've got moving goalposts and chaos to work through before we can make this happen. Prices for flights are rising daily, unfortunately, so we still need everyone's help to make this happen.
https://fundrazr.com/81s7Nd...
Full URL for donations:
I went to the laundramat on the reserve today
a truck backed in with a buncka pet carriers
I went over to take a peek
5 crates of cats
I asked where they were going
Sault Ste Marie shelter
this was 1030 am
all of the cats (15?) were panting in the heat 30celsius
200 mile drive
his truck had one of them roll top box covers
I told him they would die if he closed them in
there was a beautiful maine coon cat.. adult
and 3 mamas with babies
and a cpl singles
I woulda taken the adult coon
but I got 2 in the cabin now
breaks my heart
bobfall2005
Veteran Member
Private charter, correct.
When you pay the fright, you decide what the fright is.
When you pay the fright, you decide what the fright is.
goosebeans
Veteran Member
But, I'm confused, how were they planning to get the animals through the crowds - and the Taliban - to the airport?
Melodi
Disaster Cat
The former royal (UK) Marine in charge of the shelter had some sort of plan, but obviously, he wasn't sharing specifics, at this point, I don't have a lot of hope, but miracles can happen.
Who’s “we?” You gotta mouse in your pocket? Because western-appearing people are NOT going to “smuggle” anything in a raghead zone.
MinnesotaSmith
Membership Revoked
Arc Light strikes or Puff the Magic Dragon could help.
bobfall2005
Veteran Member
Royal Marines have a way.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Thanks, Seeker, I knew as a military man he "had a plan" but obviously he didn't go into details (this was mentioned in another interview several days ago).
He's a former Marine, military combat vet, and has both served and lived in the country off and on for years; so I figured he might be able to actually pull this one-off.
Not only that, it has been obvious to me since this started that on some level he sees his "staff" as his "troops" and he wants "no one left behind."
His wife left because she and the pregnant American manager got separated in the crowds and since they did get into the airport the decision was made for them to just get to safety as they could.
I have no idea what happens now that the road is blocked to the airport, at this point with his local contacts, he just might still be allowed to get everyone (and the animals) out; especially if the Taliban want them out and would prefer not to have this become their problem.
But if the UK Defense Ministry keeps blocking the PRIME MINISTERS OWN Permission for the flights, then I hope that he is eventually tried for manslaughter if people actually die directly because of that decision (against the Prime Minster's sign off).
He's a former Marine, military combat vet, and has both served and lived in the country off and on for years; so I figured he might be able to actually pull this one-off.
Not only that, it has been obvious to me since this started that on some level he sees his "staff" as his "troops" and he wants "no one left behind."
His wife left because she and the pregnant American manager got separated in the crowds and since they did get into the airport the decision was made for them to just get to safety as they could.
I have no idea what happens now that the road is blocked to the airport, at this point with his local contacts, he just might still be allowed to get everyone (and the animals) out; especially if the Taliban want them out and would prefer not to have this become their problem.
But if the UK Defense Ministry keeps blocking the PRIME MINISTERS OWN Permission for the flights, then I hope that he is eventually tried for manslaughter if people actually die directly because of that decision (against the Prime Minster's sign off).
Melodi
Disaster Cat
The Nazarine Rescue Thread has a really good interview with an explanation of why the Call Signs are a make-or-break issue when it comes to landing airplanes in Kabul.
In their case, until US Senators intervened, the US State Department wasn't even answering repeated attempts to contact them over this is. And the only permission that they did send had already expired by the time they sent it.
There is obviously some sort of intentional blocking by both the US State Department and the UK Department of Defense to try and block and all private evacuation efforts; even over and above the direction of a Head of Government (in the UK).
Interview is here INTL - TWO things stand in the Nazarene Fund's way: The Taliban & our OWN GOVERNMENT
In their case, until US Senators intervened, the US State Department wasn't even answering repeated attempts to contact them over this is. And the only permission that they did send had already expired by the time they sent it.
There is obviously some sort of intentional blocking by both the US State Department and the UK Department of Defense to try and block and all private evacuation efforts; even over and above the direction of a Head of Government (in the UK).
Interview is here INTL - TWO things stand in the Nazarene Fund's way: The Taliban & our OWN GOVERNMENT
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Let's just all pray the turn-around (probably from massive public backlash) by the UK Defense minister isn't too late to get everyone out. If he wanted "bad optics" he certainly got them! I will only relax on this until the plan lands safely in the UK or at least out of Afghanistan.
Ex-Royal Marine Pen Farthing WILL be able to airlift staff and 200 animals from Kabul as his rescue mission on chartered flight is given green light amid bid to get 4,000 Britons and Afghans to safety in next 36 hours
Ex-Royal Marine Pen Farthing will be able to airlift 69 staff and 200 animals from Kabul airport
He was rebuked by Ben Wallace yesterday for complaining UK forces were blocking his charter flight
But a video of the Vauxhall entering the cargo jet prompted Ricky Gervais to claim he was 'prioritising a car'
The former Royal Marine had privately funded a commercial flight but says he now can't get it into Kabul
Defence Secretary had insisted he is not prepared to 'prioritise pets over people' in the evacuation
By JACK WRIGHT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 09:52, 25 August 2021 | UPDATED: 14:08, 25 August 2021
A former Royal Marine who claims the Defence Secretary blocked a chartered flight to get 200 animals and 69 people working at his Kabul animal shelter out of Afghanistan has been given fresh hope after Ben Wallace gave the green light for the evacuation.
Paul 'Pen' Farthing, the founder of Nowzad, said Boris Johnson had approved a £365,000 plane he chartered via a crowdfunder to evacuate cats and dogs as well as his staff - but that Mr Wallace had blocked the evacuation by refusing to sign air signs needed for it to land at Kabul airport.
Yesterday the Defence Secretary insisted that the major problem with evacuations from the Afghan capital has been getting British nationals past Taliban checkpoints surrounding Hamid Karzai International Airport after Kabul fell to the jihadists earlier this month.
But a Sky News video of a Vauxhall hatchback entering a military cargo jet prompted a counter-blast from animal rights activists including the comedian Ricky Gervais and actor Peter Egan, who accused the Ministry of Defence of caring more about a car than 'sentient animals'.
Mr Wallace has now announced in a series of tweets that if Mr Farthing arrived at the airport with his staff and animals, officials would allow them to leave on the chartered plane.
Britain is working 'full speed' to rescue 4,000 Britons and Afghan allies still stuck in Kabul over the next 36 hours after Joe Biden sparked fury by swatting away demands from Boris Johnson and other G7 leaders to extend the August 31 withdrawal deadline.
'Now that Pen Farthing's staff have been cleared to come forward under LOTR I have authorised MOD to facilitate their processing alongside all other eligible personnel at (Kabul airport). At that stage, if he arrives with his animals we will seek a slot for his plane,' Mr Wallace tweeted.
'If he does not have his animals with him he and his staff can board an RAF flight. I have been consistent all along, ensuring those most at risk are processed first and that the limiting factor has been flow THROUGH to airside NOT airplane capacity.'
Dominic Raab this morning admitted that the evacuation mission is in its final desperate stages after the US President 'point blank' rejected calls from Britain, France and Germany for a delay, arguing the risks of attack from the Taliban and ISIS were too high.
The American decision not to extend the deadline for withdrawal means the airlift will have to stop tomorrow or Friday at the latest, to give Western forces time to wrap up their deployment.
But there are already claims that the Taliban is stopping fleeing Afghans from getting into the airport, and the coming days will see the 'maximum danger' for troops with fears the regime will want to create a 'Saigon' moment and threats of a terrorist 'spectacular'.
It comes as:
Former military chiefs and Tory MPs have urged the Prime Minister to reverse military cuts saying the Afghanistan crisis shows they were a mistake;
Mr Raab denied he was cavorting on a Crete beach while Afghanistan descended into chaos, saying the sea had been closed at his luxury holiday resort due to a 'red notice';
Mr Johnson pleaded with the Taliban to continue to let people out of Afghanistan after August 31 and announced a 'roadmap' for dealing with the regime;
Reports on the ground in Kabul suggested Taliban fighters were stopping Westerners getting to Kabul airport after the extremist group announced a ban on Afghans leaving the country;
President Joe Biden told the Taliban he will stick to the August 31 withdrawal deadline if they allow free access to Kabul airport.
Paul 'Pen' Farthing, the founder of Nowzad, said Boris Johnson had approved a flight he had crowdfunded to evacuate cats and dogs as well as his staff - but that Ben Wallace had blocked the evacuation by refusing to sign air signs needed for it to land at Kabul airport
Mr Wallace has now performed a U-turn, announcing in a series of tweets early today that if Mr Farthing arrived at the airport with his staff and animals, officials would allow them to leave on the chartered aircraft
UK is working 'full speed' to rescue 4,000 Brits and Afghans STILL stuck in Kabul with less than 36 hours to get out after Biden sparked fury by 'point blank' refusing to extend deadline - amid claims Taliban are ALREADY blocking access to the airport
The UK is working 'full speed' to rescue 4,000 Britons and Afghan allies still stuck in Kabul over the next 36 hours after Joe Biden sparked fury by refusing to extend the deadline for troops leaving.
Dominic Raab admitted the evacuation mission is in its final desperate stages after the US president 'point blank' rejected G7 calls for a delay, arguing the risks of attack from the Taliban and ISIS were too high.
The decision means the airlift will have to stop tomorrow or Friday at the latest, to give Western forces time to wrap up their deployment.
But there are already claims that the Taliban is stopping fleeing Afghans from getting into the airport, and the coming days will see the 'maximum danger' for troops with fears the regime will want to create a 'Saigon' moment and threats of a terrorist 'spectacular'.
In a round of interviews this morning, Mr Raab said the UK is working 'as fast as we can' to maximise the number of people who can flee, saying 2,000 were taken to safety in the last 24 hours and almost all single-nationality Britons are now out.
'We will use every hour and day we've got to maximise that throughput to get as many of those residual cases out,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programe.
'We're going to keep going for every day and every hour that we've got left.'
Mr Raab declined to say when the last UK flight will be leaving.
In response to the anger, an MoD source said yesterday: 'The car was a civilian armoured vehicle (probably part of the UK Embassy fleet).
'Priority on all flights is given to passengers, but flights have to take off in their allocated time-slot to keep traffic moving, so on the flight featured by Sky, there were 134 people processed at the time allocated for take-off, and because that left some room, it was filled with cargo, including the car.'
Mr Gervais wrote in response to the video: '@PenFarthing is brave and kind. Such honour should be rewarded. He's still trying to save others in the face of grave danger. He shouldn't be left behind. And they rescued a f*****g car? Shame.'
Actor Peter Egan added: 'Can it be possible that @BWallaceMP is ok about airlifting a car but not sentient animals!!'
Mr Farthing, 52, has complained about being 'left to fend for myself' after organising the flight for his 25 Afghan staff as well as the charity's dogs and cats. He announced the British Government granted visas for all of his staff and their dependents.
But Mr Wallace - himself a former soldier - told LBC that Mr Farthing's claim about being abandoned by the MoD was 'b******s'.
In a round of interviews, the clearly frustrated politician said that while the animal charity boss had done 'amazing' work, all the plane would achieve if it landed in Kabul was to 'block the airfield' and 'sit there empty'.
'There is a confusion, I am afraid some of the campaigners have latched on to the fact they have chartered a plane, as if this somehow is the magic wand,' he said.
'The magic wand is whether people can get through Kabul through the Taliban checkpoints and then through the 3,000-plus people, some of whom are waiting in front of the queue because they are under real threat, direct threat right now from the Taliban.'
He added: 'I am not prepared to prioritise, for example, pets over people.'
Mr Wallace said that Mr Farthing himself could get through the gates and his staff were entitled to refuge in the UK, but he could not 'guarantee' they would be airlifted 'in this window'.
An MoD spokesman said: 'We are aware of reports around vehicles being loaded onto flights leaving Afghanistan. 'Cleared passengers are always loaded as an absolute priority and any spare capacity is used for operational freight. No flight has left Kabul empty.
'In the last 24 hours, 9 flights have left with over 1800 people on board.'
Celebrities including actor Mr Gervais and Dragons Den star Deborah Meaden, who back the Nowzad charity, today slammed the Government's attitude towards evacuating animals.
Writing on Twitter, Gervais said: 'Dear stupid c**ts saying we shouldn't put animals before people.. 1. The animals go in the hold where people can't go. 2. This is an extra, privately funded plane that will allow MORE people to be saved.
Mr Johnson, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel used a G7 summit to urge Joe Biden to extend the deadline to provide more time for airlifts from Kabul airport to take place.
But the entreaties appear to have fallen on deaf ears with the Mr Biden expected to stick to his exit date for US forces.
A humiliated Mr Johnson said after the summit that the UK will continue to conduct airlifts from the country 'right up until the last moment' as he called on the Taliban to guarantee 'safe passage' for anyone who wants to leave after August 31.
The Taliban today repeated blood-curdling warnings of consequences if there was an attempt to extend the deadline as the group said no-one would be permitted to leave.
'All people should be removed prior to that date,' a spokesman told a press conference in the capital. 'After that we do not allow them. We will take a different stance.'
According to Reuters, the Pentagon told Mr Biden the risks to American forces are too high if they defy the Taliban.
Meaden added: 'So.. Pete Quentin (Tory candidate for Camberwell and Peckham) why on Earth would you put these lives at risk? Everything arranged and you pull it??? Are we dithering with peoples lives @PenFarthing #nowzad #operationark'.
The comments came after Mr Farthing told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'Today we still do not have anything from the MoD, in fact they cut me off.
'I did have an emergency line that I could call if I was in trouble or needed to report something that's going on but that's been cut so I've been literally left now on my own in enemy-held territory. I just can't get my head around that.
'We've got a privately-funded plane that can take 250 passengers out, 69 of them would be me and the staff, but we've got an empty cargo hold. I don't understand the problems here, I'm not asking the MoD to give me a plane I just need to have a call sign.'
Mr Farthing claimed he had not received documents from the Home Office that would allow his staff to get past Taliban checkpoints and leave the country.
But Mr Wallace told Sky News: 'He could get through the gates as a British passport holder. He was called forward on Friday and I recommend he takes that.
'His workforce have been offered, as entitled personnel, places and they will be able to be called forward, but I can't guarantee in this window they will be processed onto aircraft, all I can say is they qualify.'
He added on LBC radio: 'I have some really desperate people in that queue who are really under threat of life and death, and if we don't get them out their future is very, very bleak.
'I simply have to prioritise those people over pets, very important. It doesn't mean we don't care about animals, we're all an animal loving nation.'
Mr Farthing previously managed to get his 30-year-old wife Kaisa out of the country and shared a shocking image appearing to show her on a near-empty evacuation flight.
In an interview with Sky News, he said: 'I can't get into the airport because the MoD won't talk to me. That is beyond the pale, somebody somewhere is playing with people's lives.'
Mr Farthing goes on to describe the emotional rollercoaster he and his staff were forced to go through today.
He said: 'You've not idea of the elation in our office this morning when our staff knew [they could come to the UK].'
But the joy his staff felt soon turned to despair after Mr Farthing said the Ministry of Defence refused to let his privately funded commercial plane land in the Kabul military airfield.
He said: 'It's a privately funded aircraft, I only want to take out 69 people and the cargo hold is empty so we're going to put dogs and cats into it.
'No taxpayer money will go into this. We've got 130 spare seats on that aircraft we can fill with people entitled to come to Britain.'
He went on to claim the reason his flight had been blocked is that the Ministry of Defence doesn't want people to see animals getting on a flight.
While holding back tears he added: 'I am behind enemy lines now, the Taliban are here. I cannot get into the airport because the MoD won't talk to me. They're playing with people's lives.
'I wasn't frightened because I knew I had this lifeline but that's just been cut off. I am now on my own here.'
Ex-Royal Marine Pen Farthing WILL be able to airlift staff and 200 animals from Kabul as his rescue mission on chartered flight is given green light amid bid to get 4,000 Britons and Afghans to safety in next 36 hours
Ex-Royal Marine Pen Farthing will be able to airlift 69 staff and 200 animals from Kabul airport
He was rebuked by Ben Wallace yesterday for complaining UK forces were blocking his charter flight
But a video of the Vauxhall entering the cargo jet prompted Ricky Gervais to claim he was 'prioritising a car'
The former Royal Marine had privately funded a commercial flight but says he now can't get it into Kabul
Defence Secretary had insisted he is not prepared to 'prioritise pets over people' in the evacuation
By JACK WRIGHT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 09:52, 25 August 2021 | UPDATED: 14:08, 25 August 2021
A former Royal Marine who claims the Defence Secretary blocked a chartered flight to get 200 animals and 69 people working at his Kabul animal shelter out of Afghanistan has been given fresh hope after Ben Wallace gave the green light for the evacuation.
Paul 'Pen' Farthing, the founder of Nowzad, said Boris Johnson had approved a £365,000 plane he chartered via a crowdfunder to evacuate cats and dogs as well as his staff - but that Mr Wallace had blocked the evacuation by refusing to sign air signs needed for it to land at Kabul airport.
Yesterday the Defence Secretary insisted that the major problem with evacuations from the Afghan capital has been getting British nationals past Taliban checkpoints surrounding Hamid Karzai International Airport after Kabul fell to the jihadists earlier this month.
But a Sky News video of a Vauxhall hatchback entering a military cargo jet prompted a counter-blast from animal rights activists including the comedian Ricky Gervais and actor Peter Egan, who accused the Ministry of Defence of caring more about a car than 'sentient animals'.
Mr Wallace has now announced in a series of tweets that if Mr Farthing arrived at the airport with his staff and animals, officials would allow them to leave on the chartered plane.
Britain is working 'full speed' to rescue 4,000 Britons and Afghan allies still stuck in Kabul over the next 36 hours after Joe Biden sparked fury by swatting away demands from Boris Johnson and other G7 leaders to extend the August 31 withdrawal deadline.
'Now that Pen Farthing's staff have been cleared to come forward under LOTR I have authorised MOD to facilitate their processing alongside all other eligible personnel at (Kabul airport). At that stage, if he arrives with his animals we will seek a slot for his plane,' Mr Wallace tweeted.
'If he does not have his animals with him he and his staff can board an RAF flight. I have been consistent all along, ensuring those most at risk are processed first and that the limiting factor has been flow THROUGH to airside NOT airplane capacity.'
Dominic Raab this morning admitted that the evacuation mission is in its final desperate stages after the US President 'point blank' rejected calls from Britain, France and Germany for a delay, arguing the risks of attack from the Taliban and ISIS were too high.
The American decision not to extend the deadline for withdrawal means the airlift will have to stop tomorrow or Friday at the latest, to give Western forces time to wrap up their deployment.
But there are already claims that the Taliban is stopping fleeing Afghans from getting into the airport, and the coming days will see the 'maximum danger' for troops with fears the regime will want to create a 'Saigon' moment and threats of a terrorist 'spectacular'.
It comes as:
Former military chiefs and Tory MPs have urged the Prime Minister to reverse military cuts saying the Afghanistan crisis shows they were a mistake;
Mr Raab denied he was cavorting on a Crete beach while Afghanistan descended into chaos, saying the sea had been closed at his luxury holiday resort due to a 'red notice';
Mr Johnson pleaded with the Taliban to continue to let people out of Afghanistan after August 31 and announced a 'roadmap' for dealing with the regime;
Reports on the ground in Kabul suggested Taliban fighters were stopping Westerners getting to Kabul airport after the extremist group announced a ban on Afghans leaving the country;
President Joe Biden told the Taliban he will stick to the August 31 withdrawal deadline if they allow free access to Kabul airport.
Paul 'Pen' Farthing, the founder of Nowzad, said Boris Johnson had approved a flight he had crowdfunded to evacuate cats and dogs as well as his staff - but that Ben Wallace had blocked the evacuation by refusing to sign air signs needed for it to land at Kabul airport
Mr Wallace has now performed a U-turn, announcing in a series of tweets early today that if Mr Farthing arrived at the airport with his staff and animals, officials would allow them to leave on the chartered aircraft
UK is working 'full speed' to rescue 4,000 Brits and Afghans STILL stuck in Kabul with less than 36 hours to get out after Biden sparked fury by 'point blank' refusing to extend deadline - amid claims Taliban are ALREADY blocking access to the airport
The UK is working 'full speed' to rescue 4,000 Britons and Afghan allies still stuck in Kabul over the next 36 hours after Joe Biden sparked fury by refusing to extend the deadline for troops leaving.
Dominic Raab admitted the evacuation mission is in its final desperate stages after the US president 'point blank' rejected G7 calls for a delay, arguing the risks of attack from the Taliban and ISIS were too high.
The decision means the airlift will have to stop tomorrow or Friday at the latest, to give Western forces time to wrap up their deployment.
But there are already claims that the Taliban is stopping fleeing Afghans from getting into the airport, and the coming days will see the 'maximum danger' for troops with fears the regime will want to create a 'Saigon' moment and threats of a terrorist 'spectacular'.
In a round of interviews this morning, Mr Raab said the UK is working 'as fast as we can' to maximise the number of people who can flee, saying 2,000 were taken to safety in the last 24 hours and almost all single-nationality Britons are now out.
'We will use every hour and day we've got to maximise that throughput to get as many of those residual cases out,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programe.
'We're going to keep going for every day and every hour that we've got left.'
Mr Raab declined to say when the last UK flight will be leaving.
In response to the anger, an MoD source said yesterday: 'The car was a civilian armoured vehicle (probably part of the UK Embassy fleet).
'Priority on all flights is given to passengers, but flights have to take off in their allocated time-slot to keep traffic moving, so on the flight featured by Sky, there were 134 people processed at the time allocated for take-off, and because that left some room, it was filled with cargo, including the car.'
Mr Gervais wrote in response to the video: '@PenFarthing is brave and kind. Such honour should be rewarded. He's still trying to save others in the face of grave danger. He shouldn't be left behind. And they rescued a f*****g car? Shame.'
Actor Peter Egan added: 'Can it be possible that @BWallaceMP is ok about airlifting a car but not sentient animals!!'
Mr Farthing, 52, has complained about being 'left to fend for myself' after organising the flight for his 25 Afghan staff as well as the charity's dogs and cats. He announced the British Government granted visas for all of his staff and their dependents.
But Mr Wallace - himself a former soldier - told LBC that Mr Farthing's claim about being abandoned by the MoD was 'b******s'.
In a round of interviews, the clearly frustrated politician said that while the animal charity boss had done 'amazing' work, all the plane would achieve if it landed in Kabul was to 'block the airfield' and 'sit there empty'.
'There is a confusion, I am afraid some of the campaigners have latched on to the fact they have chartered a plane, as if this somehow is the magic wand,' he said.
'The magic wand is whether people can get through Kabul through the Taliban checkpoints and then through the 3,000-plus people, some of whom are waiting in front of the queue because they are under real threat, direct threat right now from the Taliban.'
He added: 'I am not prepared to prioritise, for example, pets over people.'
Mr Wallace said that Mr Farthing himself could get through the gates and his staff were entitled to refuge in the UK, but he could not 'guarantee' they would be airlifted 'in this window'.
An MoD spokesman said: 'We are aware of reports around vehicles being loaded onto flights leaving Afghanistan. 'Cleared passengers are always loaded as an absolute priority and any spare capacity is used for operational freight. No flight has left Kabul empty.
'In the last 24 hours, 9 flights have left with over 1800 people on board.'
Celebrities including actor Mr Gervais and Dragons Den star Deborah Meaden, who back the Nowzad charity, today slammed the Government's attitude towards evacuating animals.
Writing on Twitter, Gervais said: 'Dear stupid c**ts saying we shouldn't put animals before people.. 1. The animals go in the hold where people can't go. 2. This is an extra, privately funded plane that will allow MORE people to be saved.
Mr Johnson, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel used a G7 summit to urge Joe Biden to extend the deadline to provide more time for airlifts from Kabul airport to take place.
But the entreaties appear to have fallen on deaf ears with the Mr Biden expected to stick to his exit date for US forces.
A humiliated Mr Johnson said after the summit that the UK will continue to conduct airlifts from the country 'right up until the last moment' as he called on the Taliban to guarantee 'safe passage' for anyone who wants to leave after August 31.
The Taliban today repeated blood-curdling warnings of consequences if there was an attempt to extend the deadline as the group said no-one would be permitted to leave.
'All people should be removed prior to that date,' a spokesman told a press conference in the capital. 'After that we do not allow them. We will take a different stance.'
According to Reuters, the Pentagon told Mr Biden the risks to American forces are too high if they defy the Taliban.
Meaden added: 'So.. Pete Quentin (Tory candidate for Camberwell and Peckham) why on Earth would you put these lives at risk? Everything arranged and you pull it??? Are we dithering with peoples lives @PenFarthing #nowzad #operationark'.
The comments came after Mr Farthing told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'Today we still do not have anything from the MoD, in fact they cut me off.
'I did have an emergency line that I could call if I was in trouble or needed to report something that's going on but that's been cut so I've been literally left now on my own in enemy-held territory. I just can't get my head around that.
'We've got a privately-funded plane that can take 250 passengers out, 69 of them would be me and the staff, but we've got an empty cargo hold. I don't understand the problems here, I'm not asking the MoD to give me a plane I just need to have a call sign.'
Mr Farthing claimed he had not received documents from the Home Office that would allow his staff to get past Taliban checkpoints and leave the country.
But Mr Wallace told Sky News: 'He could get through the gates as a British passport holder. He was called forward on Friday and I recommend he takes that.
'His workforce have been offered, as entitled personnel, places and they will be able to be called forward, but I can't guarantee in this window they will be processed onto aircraft, all I can say is they qualify.'
He added on LBC radio: 'I have some really desperate people in that queue who are really under threat of life and death, and if we don't get them out their future is very, very bleak.
'I simply have to prioritise those people over pets, very important. It doesn't mean we don't care about animals, we're all an animal loving nation.'
Mr Farthing previously managed to get his 30-year-old wife Kaisa out of the country and shared a shocking image appearing to show her on a near-empty evacuation flight.
In an interview with Sky News, he said: 'I can't get into the airport because the MoD won't talk to me. That is beyond the pale, somebody somewhere is playing with people's lives.'
Mr Farthing goes on to describe the emotional rollercoaster he and his staff were forced to go through today.
He said: 'You've not idea of the elation in our office this morning when our staff knew [they could come to the UK].'
But the joy his staff felt soon turned to despair after Mr Farthing said the Ministry of Defence refused to let his privately funded commercial plane land in the Kabul military airfield.
He said: 'It's a privately funded aircraft, I only want to take out 69 people and the cargo hold is empty so we're going to put dogs and cats into it.
'No taxpayer money will go into this. We've got 130 spare seats on that aircraft we can fill with people entitled to come to Britain.'
He went on to claim the reason his flight had been blocked is that the Ministry of Defence doesn't want people to see animals getting on a flight.
While holding back tears he added: 'I am behind enemy lines now, the Taliban are here. I cannot get into the airport because the MoD won't talk to me. They're playing with people's lives.
'I wasn't frightened because I knew I had this lifeline but that's just been cut off. I am now on my own here.'
Melodi
Disaster Cat
You are correct sir, or at least that was mostly true as of a few hours ago. A couple of the Nazarine flights got in, I think last night but they had seven planes and only 2 were given landing numbers, and then only after members of the Senate took the State Department to the Carpet.
The UK Ministry of Defense is/was doing exactly the same thing to British-based charity or privately funded rescue planes.
The pilots have more balls than the government and military maybe they should be running things.
Seeker22
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Farthing: 'I did have an emergency line that I could call if I was in trouble or needed to report something that's going on but that's been cut so I've been literally left now on my own in enemy-held territory. I just can't get my head around that.'
Wallace: 'But Mr Wallace - himself a former soldier - told LBC that Mr Farthing's claim about being abandoned by the MoD was 'b******s'.
No, Mr. Wallace- what is bullshit is the fact that the little insignificant people had to hold your feet to the fire for you to do what any decent upstanding brave and humble one of us would have done as a matter of course and that is to save these animals and the Afghan staff.
There I go again practicing my Not A Diplomat thing. But every silver word I said is True.
Still praying for all involved.
Wallace: 'But Mr Wallace - himself a former soldier - told LBC that Mr Farthing's claim about being abandoned by the MoD was 'b******s'.
No, Mr. Wallace- what is bullshit is the fact that the little insignificant people had to hold your feet to the fire for you to do what any decent upstanding brave and humble one of us would have done as a matter of course and that is to save these animals and the Afghan staff.
There I go again practicing my Not A Diplomat thing. But every silver word I said is True.
Still praying for all involved.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Yep, it is looking more and more like this story is the result of a "pissing match" not just between Pip and the Minister for Defense but all between the Minister and Boris Johnson and others - Melodi
Did Carrie intervene to rescue animals stranded in Kabul?
'Thank you Carrie’! Furious row breaks out over Kabul animal rescue flight as MoD denies claims from wildlife campaigners that PM’s wife played role in get approval for ex Royal Marine's airlift for pets and staff
Boris Johnson 'personally overruled Ben Wallace's desire to prioritise human over animal evacuations'
Dominic Dyer, a friend of Carrie Johnson, claimed PM took control after reading media coverage of row
Ex-Royal Marine Pen Farthing is now able to airlift 69 staff and 200 animals from Kabul airport
He was rebuked by the Defence Secretary for complaining UK forces were blocking his charter flight
But a video of the Vauxhall entering the cargo jet prompted Ricky Gervais to claim he was 'prioritising a car'
Mr Wallace then gave the green light for Mr Farthing's rescue flight in a flurry of tweets early this morning
By JACK WRIGHT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 09:52, 25 August 2021 | UPDATED: 17:53, 25 August 2021
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A furious row has tonight broken out over an animal rescue flight from Kabul amid claims the Prime Minister's wife intervened to help get approval for the emergency airlift.
Boris Johnson is believed to have personally overruled his Defence Secretary's desire to prioritise human over animal evacuations for Afghanistan.
Ben Wallace had been adamant that the Ministry of Defence would prioritise 'people over pets' as the Government scrambles to evacuate thousands of British nationals trapped at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul - which fell under Taliban control last week.
But Mr Johnson is said to have overruled the policy following a 'huge' swell of public support calling Royal Marine turned charity boss Paul 'Pen' Farthing get 200 cats and dogs out of Kabul - where he runs an animal welfare centre.
Today animal rights campaigner Dominic Dyer, a friend of Mr Farthing, founder of the charity Nowzad, told MailPlus that the u-turn followed an intervention from the Prime Minister's wife Carrie Johnson - a keen supporter of animal welfare issues.
But the claim was quickly dismissed by the Ministry of Defence, with a spokesperson reportedly telling Sky News that they were a 'lie'.
It comes after a Sky News video showed a Vauxhall hatchback entering a military cargo jet prompted a counter-blast from animal rights activists including comic Ricky Gervais and actor Peter Egan, who accused the Ministry of Defence of caring more about a car than 'sentient animals'.
The Defence Secretary then announced in a flurry of tweets at 1.30am this morning that officials would allow Mr Farthing to leave on the chartered flight if he arrived at the airport with his staff and animals.
The U-turn is likely to raise questions about the extent to which Mr Johnson is personally managing the evacuation, and the role his wife - an animal rights advocate who also encouraged the Prime Minister to pursue his green agenda - is playing in the Afghanistan crisis.
Tagging Mr and Mrs Johnson, Mr Wallace, Mr Farthing and the Nowzad charity in a video published on Twitter this afternoon, activist Mr Dyer said: 'Finally, finally the Prime Minister has taken control of the situation with Pen Farthing, his people and his dogs.
'At 1.30 this morning, under huge pressure, after he had seen the media coming through this morning after the G7 summit, after realising we can't extend the airport as (Joe) Biden won't allow it beyond the 31st of August, he has reeled in Ben Wallace.
'And he's also got Ben Wallace now to go out publicly at 1.30 this morning on his social media and confirm three critical issues: that Pen Farthing's people, all his staff and dependents are now approved by the Home Secretary, Foreign Office and Prime Minister to leave the country; that they will be given secure access to the airport; and that if Pen brings his dogs with him they will be allowed to go in with the cats into the airport and we will be allowed to put a plane down on that runway to take them out of Kabul and back to Britain.
'That is a huge, huge victory for common sense, compassion and care for people and animals in this country. Ben Wallace was out by the wings yesterday, and they've just fallen off. He's been told that he's not dictating the policy on this issue in the Government.'
MailOnline has contacted the MoD and Downing Street for comment.
Mr Farthing raised £365,000 so he could charter a plane to rescue hundreds of animals and 69 staff. It is understood that the plane belongs to a US businessman.
Britain is working 'full speed' to rescue thousands of Britons and Afghan allies still stuck in Kabul over the next 36 hours after Joe Biden sparked fury by swatting away demands from Mr Johnson and other G7 leaders to extend the August 31 withdrawal deadline.
Did Carrie intervene to rescue animals stranded in Kabul?
'Thank you Carrie’! Furious row breaks out over Kabul animal rescue flight as MoD denies claims from wildlife campaigners that PM’s wife played role in get approval for ex Royal Marine's airlift for pets and staff
Boris Johnson 'personally overruled Ben Wallace's desire to prioritise human over animal evacuations'
Dominic Dyer, a friend of Carrie Johnson, claimed PM took control after reading media coverage of row
Ex-Royal Marine Pen Farthing is now able to airlift 69 staff and 200 animals from Kabul airport
He was rebuked by the Defence Secretary for complaining UK forces were blocking his charter flight
But a video of the Vauxhall entering the cargo jet prompted Ricky Gervais to claim he was 'prioritising a car'
Mr Wallace then gave the green light for Mr Farthing's rescue flight in a flurry of tweets early this morning
By JACK WRIGHT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 09:52, 25 August 2021 | UPDATED: 17:53, 25 August 2021
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A furious row has tonight broken out over an animal rescue flight from Kabul amid claims the Prime Minister's wife intervened to help get approval for the emergency airlift.
Boris Johnson is believed to have personally overruled his Defence Secretary's desire to prioritise human over animal evacuations for Afghanistan.
Ben Wallace had been adamant that the Ministry of Defence would prioritise 'people over pets' as the Government scrambles to evacuate thousands of British nationals trapped at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul - which fell under Taliban control last week.
But Mr Johnson is said to have overruled the policy following a 'huge' swell of public support calling Royal Marine turned charity boss Paul 'Pen' Farthing get 200 cats and dogs out of Kabul - where he runs an animal welfare centre.
Today animal rights campaigner Dominic Dyer, a friend of Mr Farthing, founder of the charity Nowzad, told MailPlus that the u-turn followed an intervention from the Prime Minister's wife Carrie Johnson - a keen supporter of animal welfare issues.
But the claim was quickly dismissed by the Ministry of Defence, with a spokesperson reportedly telling Sky News that they were a 'lie'.
It comes after a Sky News video showed a Vauxhall hatchback entering a military cargo jet prompted a counter-blast from animal rights activists including comic Ricky Gervais and actor Peter Egan, who accused the Ministry of Defence of caring more about a car than 'sentient animals'.
The Defence Secretary then announced in a flurry of tweets at 1.30am this morning that officials would allow Mr Farthing to leave on the chartered flight if he arrived at the airport with his staff and animals.
The U-turn is likely to raise questions about the extent to which Mr Johnson is personally managing the evacuation, and the role his wife - an animal rights advocate who also encouraged the Prime Minister to pursue his green agenda - is playing in the Afghanistan crisis.
Tagging Mr and Mrs Johnson, Mr Wallace, Mr Farthing and the Nowzad charity in a video published on Twitter this afternoon, activist Mr Dyer said: 'Finally, finally the Prime Minister has taken control of the situation with Pen Farthing, his people and his dogs.
'At 1.30 this morning, under huge pressure, after he had seen the media coming through this morning after the G7 summit, after realising we can't extend the airport as (Joe) Biden won't allow it beyond the 31st of August, he has reeled in Ben Wallace.
'And he's also got Ben Wallace now to go out publicly at 1.30 this morning on his social media and confirm three critical issues: that Pen Farthing's people, all his staff and dependents are now approved by the Home Secretary, Foreign Office and Prime Minister to leave the country; that they will be given secure access to the airport; and that if Pen brings his dogs with him they will be allowed to go in with the cats into the airport and we will be allowed to put a plane down on that runway to take them out of Kabul and back to Britain.
'That is a huge, huge victory for common sense, compassion and care for people and animals in this country. Ben Wallace was out by the wings yesterday, and they've just fallen off. He's been told that he's not dictating the policy on this issue in the Government.'
MailOnline has contacted the MoD and Downing Street for comment.
Mr Farthing raised £365,000 so he could charter a plane to rescue hundreds of animals and 69 staff. It is understood that the plane belongs to a US businessman.
Britain is working 'full speed' to rescue thousands of Britons and Afghan allies still stuck in Kabul over the next 36 hours after Joe Biden sparked fury by swatting away demands from Mr Johnson and other G7 leaders to extend the August 31 withdrawal deadline.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
The airport is now closed, I don't know if they will open again, this is just all so horrible and this story just puts a focus on it.
But if Pim and his staff are tortured or killed, the UK Defense Secretary should resign and be tried for this. He is playing with people's lives to score political points.
At the very least his political career would be over, but I'd prefer he rot in jail.
But if Pim and his staff are tortured or killed, the UK Defense Secretary should resign and be tried for this. He is playing with people's lives to score political points.
At the very least his political career would be over, but I'd prefer he rot in jail.
Seeker22
Has No Life - Lives on TB
I's prefer he be drawn and quartered, but I'm an old fashioned kind of gal.
Seeker22
Has No Life - Lives on TB
CasualtiesOfTheDay@Ayei_Eloheichem
·
Aug 21
Pentagon says it is not coordinating evacuations with any US allies and that they can all go **** themselves because the US does not give a shit and takes no responsibility. The Taliban is our only ally now, Pentagon asserts, and it is in constant communication with them.
ALLY??? WTF, over?
and then there's this one:
CasualtiesOfTheDay@Ayei_Eloheichem
·
Aug 18
Blinken said the Biden admin would "revitalize" alliances. Here's the chair of the UK's foreign affairs select committee – the closest US ally – calling on US allies to decouple from the US and "hold the line together" without America due to this Afghanistan SNAFU:
View: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1428995042979434505
Actually, I think that's the smartest thing ya'll can do. This .gov is rogue.
Last edited:
thompson
Certa Bonum Certamen
Hung by his neck until dead would be the most appropriate thing, but it's not an option there.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
So I guess the convoy made it to the airport, but this article didn't even update that far. Thank you Red Baron for that information though I have to wonder if they are being "sent away" with everyone else or if they will be let in - I have no idea but we can hope.
Meanwhile, this "big" story is mostly "Ass Covering" (sorry to be blunt but it fits) from the Defense Secretary - and again you can see how the man is using his ego to play with the lives of others and now he is accusing the media and others of "lying."
He tries to make it like the Brits were unable to rescue people because this story was "distracting them from their jobs" which as far as I can tell is hogwash. The only reason it was distracting was that the Defense Minister refused call letters for the plane so it could land, if he hadn't done that, the rescue would probably have already happened and every school child in the United Kingdom would be babbling happily about Ewok the Pekanese and wanting to buy his rescue "plushy" (stuff toy, money going to the charity of course).
Anyway, I'll let the story speak for itself, but at this point if they don't get the people and the animals out alive, I know one man who is likely to be encouraged to resign his office and if not will be met by boos, hisses and rotten tomatoes (some of which I gather may already be happening) from the British Public until he does step down.
article here:
news.sky.com
Afghanistan: Defence secretary said it is 'a total myth' Paul Farthing's flight in Kabul was blocked as PM denies involvement in case
Paul "Pen" Farthing has been campaigning to have his staff, their families and the animals evacuated in a charter plane from Kabul and has called on Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen to help arrange safe passage to their charter flight.
Amar Mehta
News reporter @Amarjournalist_
Thursday 26 August 2021 14:01, UK
Play Video - Pen Farthing facing a 'grim reality' - minister
Pen Farthing facing a 'grim reality', says minister
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said it is a "total myth" that Paul "Pen" Farthing's charter flight for his staff and animals was blocked.
In a seven tweet thread published on Wednesday, Mr Wallace he said that he "never said I would not facilitate. I said no one would get the queue jump."
He added that the issue is it can take over 23 hours for people to get processed and "there is no point turning up with a plane until the passengers/animals are airside.
"There has been no "u-turn". You can't unblock something that was never blocked. The bullying, falsehoods and threatening behaviour by some towards our MOD personnel and advisors is unacceptable and a shameful way to treat people trying to help the evacuation. They do their cause no good."
Boris Johnson has also spoken on the issue and was asked if he or his wife, Carrie Symonds, have had any influence on Mr Farthing's case and he said: "I have had no influence on any particular case, nor would that be right.
"But what I can say is we will make sure that we have to do it impartially. So far we have helped the overwhelming majority in both categories and will use the remaining time to help as many as we can."
The comments come after the ex-Marine former said he was attempting to evacuate 200 cats and dogs and staff from the Nowzad animal shelter from Kabul.
More on Afghanistan
Play Video - 'I have to prioritise people over pets'
The defence secretary said he has 'to prioritise people over pets'
A government source told Sky News that "Pen is making his way to Kabul airport" and he "is in the queue but he's not in a safe location given the security threat, it's still very precarious".
"He's in touch with the UK military who will facilitate entrance to the airport with all the other cleared personnel when they arrive," the source added.
Play Video - UK govt 'has abandoned me in Afghanistan'
UK govt 'has abandoned me in Afghanistan'
On Thursday, Mr Farthing called on the Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen to arrange safe passage for his team and animals to their charter flight.
"Can you please facilitate safe passage into the airport for our convoy? We are an NGO who will come back to Afghanistan but right now I want to get everyone out safely."
He added that his team have been waiting "10 hours after being assured that we would have safe passage".
Speaking to Sky News on Thursday morning, the Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said British troops cannot move "desperate Afghans" out of the way to bring the former Royal Marine and staff and animals from his rescue centre to the front of the queue at Kabul airport.
Play Video - PM's 'key precondition' for Taliban
Boris Johnson says that if the 'new government' in Afghanistan wishes to engage with the West and receive development aid, they need to allow people to leave the country if they want to.
Mr Heappey said that while it is commendable that Mr Farthing has stayed with his staff and animals until they are evacuated, fast-tracking him through the evacuation process "doesn't feel like the right thing to do".
The armed forces minister told Sky News: "For him, it is a grim reality of these situations that as a British national we would seek to expedite his passage into the airport but he, commendably, has said that is not what he wants to do.
"He is asking us, the Americans and the Taliban for safe passage but I am afraid safe passage is also other words for being brought to the front of the queue.
Image:Ben Wallace said Paul Farthing's flight has not been blocked
"And I just wonder how you feel about having to make a decision whereby we move lots of desperate Afghans out of the way to bring him through because of the profile and the support he has. That doesn't feel like the right thing to do. It gives me no pleasure to say that though."
According to Mr Heappey, Mr Farthing was offered a flight back to the UK last week and he "would have wanted to see him on it because we've got British troops in danger in order to facilitate the evacuation".
He added the Foreign Office has cleared Mr Farthing's staff to leave the country but reiterated that his team cannot be brought to the front of the queue.
Everything you need to know about the Taliban takeover
"We have done everything we can to facilitate his staff coming here, we know that he has an aircraft from a Polish operator," he said.
"We will seek to get that a landing slot through the combined air operation centre. The one thing we cannot do is move all the other Afghans out of the way to let his Afghans to the front of the queue."
Earlier, shadow minister for Asia Stephen Kinnock told Sky News he agreed with Mr Wallace, who said people should be prioritised over pets.
Mr Wallace has said he found it "upsetting" that the military had been "diverted from saving .. people" because of "inaccurate stories" about what was happening to the animals and workers under Mr Farthing's care.
He is reported to have told MPs: "What I was not prepared to do is prioritise pets over people, I'm afraid you might dislike me for that but that's my view, there are also some very, very desperate people under real threat."
Follow the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker
And Mr Kinnock said he agrees "with every word of that statement".
"I think Mr Farthing had the opportunity as a British citizen to leave last week on a plane and I think what has always been clear is that this issue, this convoy that he has now with pets, dogs, etcetera - if it is blocking the runway in a way that is not allowing human beings to escape from Afghanistan, then that is problematic," he said.
Mr Farthing founded the Nowzad shelter in Kabul after serving with the British Army in Afghanistan in the mid-2000s, with the organisation rescuing dogs, cats and donkeys.
Related Topics
Meanwhile, this "big" story is mostly "Ass Covering" (sorry to be blunt but it fits) from the Defense Secretary - and again you can see how the man is using his ego to play with the lives of others and now he is accusing the media and others of "lying."
He tries to make it like the Brits were unable to rescue people because this story was "distracting them from their jobs" which as far as I can tell is hogwash. The only reason it was distracting was that the Defense Minister refused call letters for the plane so it could land, if he hadn't done that, the rescue would probably have already happened and every school child in the United Kingdom would be babbling happily about Ewok the Pekanese and wanting to buy his rescue "plushy" (stuff toy, money going to the charity of course).
Anyway, I'll let the story speak for itself, but at this point if they don't get the people and the animals out alive, I know one man who is likely to be encouraged to resign his office and if not will be met by boos, hisses and rotten tomatoes (some of which I gather may already be happening) from the British Public until he does step down.
article here:
Afghanistan: Defence secretary slams claims ex-marine's Kabul animal rescue flight was blocked as 'total myth'
Paul "Pen" Farthing has been campaigning to have his staff, their families and the animals evacuated in a charter plane from Kabul and has called on Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen to help arrange safe passage to their charter flight.
news.sky.com
Paul "Pen" Farthing has been campaigning to have his staff, their families and the animals evacuated in a charter plane from Kabul and has called on Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen to help arrange safe passage to their charter flight.
Amar Mehta
News reporter @Amarjournalist_
Thursday 26 August 2021 14:01, UK
Play Video - Pen Farthing facing a 'grim reality' - minister
Pen Farthing facing a 'grim reality', says minister
- https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sha... was blocked as PM denies involvement in case
- https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?te...l-rescue-staff-to-front-of-the-queue-12390846
- https://www.timebomb2000.com/xf/wha...l-rescue-staff-to-front-of-the-queue-12390846
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said it is a "total myth" that Paul "Pen" Farthing's charter flight for his staff and animals was blocked.
In a seven tweet thread published on Wednesday, Mr Wallace he said that he "never said I would not facilitate. I said no one would get the queue jump."
He added that the issue is it can take over 23 hours for people to get processed and "there is no point turning up with a plane until the passengers/animals are airside.
"There has been no "u-turn". You can't unblock something that was never blocked. The bullying, falsehoods and threatening behaviour by some towards our MOD personnel and advisors is unacceptable and a shameful way to treat people trying to help the evacuation. They do their cause no good."
Boris Johnson has also spoken on the issue and was asked if he or his wife, Carrie Symonds, have had any influence on Mr Farthing's case and he said: "I have had no influence on any particular case, nor would that be right.
"But what I can say is we will make sure that we have to do it impartially. So far we have helped the overwhelming majority in both categories and will use the remaining time to help as many as we can."
The comments come after the ex-Marine former said he was attempting to evacuate 200 cats and dogs and staff from the Nowzad animal shelter from Kabul.
More on Afghanistan
- Afghanistan: Boris Johnson says time remaining for Kabul evacuations is 'quite short' amid warnings airport is under the threat of a terror attack
- Tokyo Paralympics: Afghanistan veteran Jaco Van Gass claims cycling gold for GB on debut at Games
- Afghanistan: 'Very lethal attack' could occur at Kabul airport in matter of hours, minister says
- Afghanistan: Why fears of an attack on Kabul airport have grown - and who are terror group ISIS-K?
- Afghanistan: British Army surgeon used new parenting skills to comfort baby passed over barbed wire
- Afghanistan: Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says British evacuation efforts in Kabul have been 'diverted' by bid to rescue animals cared for by ex-Royal Marine Pen Farthing
Play Video - 'I have to prioritise people over pets'
The defence secretary said he has 'to prioritise people over pets'
A government source told Sky News that "Pen is making his way to Kabul airport" and he "is in the queue but he's not in a safe location given the security threat, it's still very precarious".
"He's in touch with the UK military who will facilitate entrance to the airport with all the other cleared personnel when they arrive," the source added.
Play Video - UK govt 'has abandoned me in Afghanistan'
UK govt 'has abandoned me in Afghanistan'
On Thursday, Mr Farthing called on the Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen to arrange safe passage for his team and animals to their charter flight.
"Can you please facilitate safe passage into the airport for our convoy? We are an NGO who will come back to Afghanistan but right now I want to get everyone out safely."
He added that his team have been waiting "10 hours after being assured that we would have safe passage".
Speaking to Sky News on Thursday morning, the Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said British troops cannot move "desperate Afghans" out of the way to bring the former Royal Marine and staff and animals from his rescue centre to the front of the queue at Kabul airport.
Play Video - PM's 'key precondition' for Taliban
Boris Johnson says that if the 'new government' in Afghanistan wishes to engage with the West and receive development aid, they need to allow people to leave the country if they want to.
Mr Heappey said that while it is commendable that Mr Farthing has stayed with his staff and animals until they are evacuated, fast-tracking him through the evacuation process "doesn't feel like the right thing to do".
The armed forces minister told Sky News: "For him, it is a grim reality of these situations that as a British national we would seek to expedite his passage into the airport but he, commendably, has said that is not what he wants to do.
"He is asking us, the Americans and the Taliban for safe passage but I am afraid safe passage is also other words for being brought to the front of the queue.
Image:Ben Wallace said Paul Farthing's flight has not been blocked
"And I just wonder how you feel about having to make a decision whereby we move lots of desperate Afghans out of the way to bring him through because of the profile and the support he has. That doesn't feel like the right thing to do. It gives me no pleasure to say that though."
According to Mr Heappey, Mr Farthing was offered a flight back to the UK last week and he "would have wanted to see him on it because we've got British troops in danger in order to facilitate the evacuation".
He added the Foreign Office has cleared Mr Farthing's staff to leave the country but reiterated that his team cannot be brought to the front of the queue.
Everything you need to know about the Taliban takeover
"We have done everything we can to facilitate his staff coming here, we know that he has an aircraft from a Polish operator," he said.
"We will seek to get that a landing slot through the combined air operation centre. The one thing we cannot do is move all the other Afghans out of the way to let his Afghans to the front of the queue."
Earlier, shadow minister for Asia Stephen Kinnock told Sky News he agreed with Mr Wallace, who said people should be prioritised over pets.
Mr Wallace has said he found it "upsetting" that the military had been "diverted from saving .. people" because of "inaccurate stories" about what was happening to the animals and workers under Mr Farthing's care.
He is reported to have told MPs: "What I was not prepared to do is prioritise pets over people, I'm afraid you might dislike me for that but that's my view, there are also some very, very desperate people under real threat."
Follow the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker
And Mr Kinnock said he agrees "with every word of that statement".
"I think Mr Farthing had the opportunity as a British citizen to leave last week on a plane and I think what has always been clear is that this issue, this convoy that he has now with pets, dogs, etcetera - if it is blocking the runway in a way that is not allowing human beings to escape from Afghanistan, then that is problematic," he said.
Mr Farthing founded the Nowzad shelter in Kabul after serving with the British Army in Afghanistan in the mid-2000s, with the organisation rescuing dogs, cats and donkeys.
Related Topics
Melodi
Disaster Cat
latest update from Warpaws:
War Paws
tSpS1onhcsfored ·
#breakingnews from @kabul_animal_rescue
We have a flight. That’s the good news. The bad news is that our staff are stuck outside the airport and the Taliban are not allowing any Afghan citizens entry. Our dogs are all inside, and our cats are still outside. Everyone is doing all they can to ensure our staff are able to leave. We will update as we can.
#afghanistan #afghananimalrescue #kabul #HKIA KabulAirport #kabul #afghanistan
#afghanistananimalrescue #afghanairlift #breaking #animalrescue #internationaldogday
War Paws
tSpS1onhcsfored ·
#breakingnews from @kabul_animal_rescue
We have a flight. That’s the good news. The bad news is that our staff are stuck outside the airport and the Taliban are not allowing any Afghan citizens entry. Our dogs are all inside, and our cats are still outside. Everyone is doing all they can to ensure our staff are able to leave. We will update as we can.
#afghanistan #afghananimalrescue #kabul #HKIA KabulAirport #kabul #afghanistan
Seeker22
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Please tell me they're NOT at the Abbey Gate.
ALERT - We can confirm an explosion outside Kabul airport
and we have another one:
View: https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1430900343508922372?s=20
ALERT - We can confirm an explosion outside Kabul airport
and we have another one:
View: https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1430900343508922372?s=20
Seeker22
Has No Life - Lives on TB
They tried. Perhaps overland is a better option?
View: https://twitter.com/Me245116/status/1430956832651194380?s=20
View: https://twitter.com/Me245116/status/1430956832651194380?s=20
Seeker22
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Since the airport is a warzone right now with five explosions so far, overland might be the way? Eric Prince is over there. Hook he and Pen up and it might work? Anything is better than sitting waiting to be slaughtered.
Our military is NOT going in to raze the place even after ten soldiers died. Not coming. Those in AStan are on their own. Time to start thinking outside that box. Maybe fill up Eric Prince's email with pleas for help? And take the entire lot out (NOWZAD and KSAR) in one grand caravan.
Edited to add: Prince, the MERCENARY will get people out of there for $6500 a head.
No humanitarian DNA in this one. Nevermind. Has to be somebody out there who would do better.
Our military is NOT going in to raze the place even after ten soldiers died. Not coming. Those in AStan are on their own. Time to start thinking outside that box. Maybe fill up Eric Prince's email with pleas for help? And take the entire lot out (NOWZAD and KSAR) in one grand caravan.
Edited to add: Prince, the MERCENARY will get people out of there for $6500 a head.
No humanitarian DNA in this one. Nevermind. Has to be somebody out there who would do better.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
This is just devastating news, I hope that somehow that staff and animals (or at least the staff) can make it out later, but I agree I don't think Pip has a choice and his staff are begging him to get out before the Taliban find him.
Pen Farthing says that he will leave Afghanistan without 25 Afghan staff and their families after they told him to flee 'with as many cats and dogs' as possible [update he won't be allowed to take any per Washington DC/Taliban regulations]
Mr Farthing said mission to evacuate staff and animals has been stopped by President Biden's policy change
He said the Taliban are now only allowing people through checkpoints if they have a 'passport with a visa in it'
The veteran has been told by his staff on his own with as many animals as possible
But he said he won't be able to get his animals through the checkpoints because of the 'regulation'
Charity boss also witnessed today's attack outside Kabul Airport after which his driver was nearly shot
By HARRY HOWARD and JACK NEWMAN and RORY TINGLE, HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 23:13, 26 August 2021 | UPDATED: 23:56, 26 August 2021
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An animal charity boss stuck in Afghanistan with 200 dogs and cats said his 'mission' to get them and his staff out of the country has been unsuccessful and he is now likely to have to leave the country on his own.
Pen Farthing, who founded the Nowzad animal shelter in Kabul, has been engaged in a desperate attempt to board an RAF evacuation flight in recent days.
Today, he had been waiting outside the city's airport with his animals and staff after making it through a terrifying Taliban checkpoint at which a fighter accidentally fired his gun.
His group also narrowly avoided the airport suicide bomb blasts which rocked the area today, killing 12 US serviceman and up to 90 Afghans.
But he has now revealed in an interview with the BBC that he has been forced to give up on his attempt to get his animals and staff out of the country due to a decision by US President Joe Biden to change the rules on who is allowed into the airfield.
He said that even though his staff had been 'given approval' by the British Government to board a flight, 'the Taliban would not accept their paperwork' because they had been told to only allow people through who had a 'physical passport with a visa in it'.
He said his staff have now told him it is 'time to go' over fears for his safety, but added that he will be unable to take any of his animals due to the new rules.
Former Royal Marine Mr Farthing, who founded the Nowzad animal shelter in Kabul, has been engaged in a desperate attempt to board an RAF evacuation flight in recent days
It comes after Defence Secretary Ben Wallace hit out at criticism from supporters of the former Royal Marine Mr Farthing who claimed the minister had blocked a flight which would have taken the animals.
Paul Farthing, known as Pen, who founded the Nowzad shelter in Kabul, is aiming to get 200 dogs and cats alongside his animal shelter staff out of the country.
In a series of tweets, Mr Wallace lashed out at 'bullying, falsehoods and threatening behaviour' towards Ministry of Defence staff.
His animals are currently in a container outside the airport as they wait with their carer to board an evacuation flight.
Boris Johnson also denied he had had any influence on the rescue attempts.
In a series of tweets, Mr Wallace lashed out at 'bullying, falsehoods and threatening behaviour' towards Ministry of Defence staff.
Speaking on Thursday evening, Mr Wallace said: 'We got inside that airfield and just before that horrendous attack... we were told that Joe Biden had changed the policy on who is allowed into the airfield.
'And so my staff, even though they had been given approval by the British Government, the Taliban would not accept their paperwork because they had been told they could only allow people in with a physical passport with a visa in it.
'The Taliban obviously control the outer part of the airfield, so there is nothing I can do.'
He added: 'My mission to get them out of Afghanistan has just ended because Joe Biden stopped it.
'I can't overrule the President of the United States, he has said what paperwork that they need to obviously be able to get into the airfield.'
He said his staff have told him to leave because they do not think he will be 'welcome' under Taliban rule once Western forces have left.
'They asked me if I can get as many of the dogs and cats out with me so yeah,' he said.
'I can't take them with me because I can't get them now past those Taliban checkpoints because of the regulation that has come down.'
Describing his group's route to the airport, he said: 'We had gone through hell to get there, we have had Taliban cock their weapons and point them at our faces, one of them had what we used to call in the marines an ND – a negligent discharge where they basically accidentally pull the trigger.
'It was a miracle that he was an absolutely rubbish aim, otherwise one of us wouldn't be here now.'
Today's bomb blasts occurred after Mr Farthing's staff were refused passage through the Taliban checkpoint.
After the group had begun their journey with the animals back to their shelter, Mr Farthing said 'all hell broke loose' when the explosions went off'.
'We had Taliban there firing into the air, one let off a full magazine on automatic from his AK-47 right next to the window of our bus where we had women and children in,' he said.
'As we were trying to then flee from the airport we were getting teargassed, so we were trying to drive the vehicle while we obviously can't see anything.
It was just the most horrific thing, we have all managed to make it back to our animal shelter here...'
He also told how he met a British bus driver who is trapped with his children in Kabul after coming to Afghanistan to visit family.
The veteran said the man told him he was with a group of around 40 people, all of whom had British passports.
'There is no way they are going to be able to get home. There are thousands and thousands of people who are going to be left here who have every right in the world to get on a flight and come home,' he said.
'At certain checkpoints the Taliban won't let you through if you are of Afghan heritage but you've now got a foreign passport.'
Jihadist splinter group ISIS-K are believed to be behind today's attacks.
Besides the deaths of 12 US troops, senior health officials in Kabul say the death toll could be as high as 90 Afghans, with 143 more people believed to be injured.
Speaking earlier today, Mr Farthing also told how his group's driver narrowly avoided being 'shot in the head' by a gunman with an AK-47.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson denied he had had any influence on Mr Farthing's rescue attempt after being asked to intervene by his wife, Carrie, who is a vocal animal rights activist.
Make a run for the border... if you think you can make it...
The final betrayal: The Afghan translators who helped...
'ISIS suicide bomb' kills 13 at Kabul airport: TWO blasts...
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And, in a series of tweets, Mr Wallace rejected claims his staff had blocked a flight for Mr Farthing.
He said: 'Let's get some facts out there: One. No one, at any stage has blocked a flight.
'This is a total myth and is being peddled around as if that is why the pet evacuation hasn't taken place. Two. I never said I would not facilitate. I said no one would get to queue jump.
'Three. The issue, as those desperate people waiting outside the gates know too well, has always been getting processed through the entrances. It can take over 24 hours. There is no point turning up with a plane until the passengers / pets are airside.
'Four. As people were processed ARAP (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy), LOTR (Leave outside the Immigration Rules) etc they were called forward. Once processed and on the airfield they are marshalled on to a plane. As I have said we will facilitate at all stages but the priority will be people not pets.'
Mr Wallace went on to say there had been no 'U-turn' over the issue, calling for critics to allow civil servants and the military to deal 'with one of the most dangerous and challenging evacuations for a generation'.
He added: 'The bullying, falsehoods and threatening behaviour by some towards our MOD personnel and advisors is unacceptable and a shameful way to treat people trying to help the evacuation. They do their cause no good.'
Since the collapse of the Afghan government, Mr Farthing and his supporters have campaigned to have his staff and their families as well as 140 dogs and 60 cats evacuated from the country in a plan he has dubbed Operation Ark.
Reports have suggested the Prime Minister's wife Carrie stepped in to push for his rescue.
Asked about the reports today, Mr Johnson said: 'I've had absolutely no influence on any particular case, nor would that be right.
'That's not, that's not how we do things in this country.'
This morning, Mr Farthing issued a plea on Twitter to ensure his 'safe passage' into Kabul airport.
Addressing the Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, Mr Farthing said: 'Dear Sir; my team & my animals are stuck at airport circle. We have a flight waiting. Can you please facilitate safe passage into the airport for our convoy?
'We are an NGO who will come back to Afghanistan but right now I want to get everyone out safely.'
He added: 'We have been here for 10 hours after being assured that we would have safe passage. Truly would like to go home now. Let's prove the IEA are taking a different path.'
His friend and supporter Dominic Dyer, from Milton Keynes, said a privately funded plane had been due to land on Friday from Luton airport, but plans had to be scrapped due to security fears.
Mr Dyer said another plane is now waiting in a 'neighbouring country' but cannot land in Kabul until Mr Farthing is granted entry into the airport.
He said: 'We have a plan in place and we can act swiftly, but not until he's granted entry into the airport.
'It's a complicated situation and the door is closing, the next 24 to 48 hours are crucial - we need it to happen before then to avoid him, his staff and the animals becoming stuck in the country.
'There are options for him to go back to his centre and hunker down or he could try and leave the country on the road - but there are fears over the Taliban closing the borders, so it's unclear what's going to happen.'
Earlier on Thursday, Armed Forces minister James Heappey said British forces could not move 'desperate Afghans' to make way for Mr Farthing's pet rescue mission - as harrowing footage emerged of dogs suffering from the heat while stuck in a container outside Kabul airport.
Mr Heappey said that while the former Royal Marine deserved praise for staying behind with his staff and animals until they are evacuated, giving them priority over other desperate people waiting to leave 'doesn't feel like the right thing to do'.
Taliban militants have blocked Mr Farthing's convoy carrying 173 cats and dogs from entering Kabul airport to flee Afghanistan - as he warned the animals could soon die from heat exhaustion after being left for more than ten hours in a sweltering travel crate.
Today shocking footage emerged of the animals gasping for breath inside the packed container.
Summing up the situation this morning, Armed Forces minister James Heappey suggested it would be wrong to prioritise Mr Farthing and his animals for processing over other applicants.
He told Sky News: 'For him, it is a grim reality of these situations that as a British national we would seek to expedite his passage into the airport but he, commendably, has said that is not what he wants to do.
'He is asking us, the Americans and the Taliban for safe passage but I am afraid safe passage is also other words for being brought to the front of the queue.
'And I just wonder how you feel about having to make a decision whereby we move lots of desperate Afghans out of the way to bring him through because of the profile and the support he has. That doesn't feel like the right thing to do. It gives me no pleasure to say that though.'
Pen Farthing says that he will leave Afghanistan without 25 Afghan staff and their families after they told him to flee 'with as many cats and dogs' as possible [update he won't be allowed to take any per Washington DC/Taliban regulations]
Mr Farthing said mission to evacuate staff and animals has been stopped by President Biden's policy change
He said the Taliban are now only allowing people through checkpoints if they have a 'passport with a visa in it'
The veteran has been told by his staff on his own with as many animals as possible
But he said he won't be able to get his animals through the checkpoints because of the 'regulation'
Charity boss also witnessed today's attack outside Kabul Airport after which his driver was nearly shot
By HARRY HOWARD and JACK NEWMAN and RORY TINGLE, HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 23:13, 26 August 2021 | UPDATED: 23:56, 26 August 2021
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An animal charity boss stuck in Afghanistan with 200 dogs and cats said his 'mission' to get them and his staff out of the country has been unsuccessful and he is now likely to have to leave the country on his own.
Pen Farthing, who founded the Nowzad animal shelter in Kabul, has been engaged in a desperate attempt to board an RAF evacuation flight in recent days.
Today, he had been waiting outside the city's airport with his animals and staff after making it through a terrifying Taliban checkpoint at which a fighter accidentally fired his gun.
His group also narrowly avoided the airport suicide bomb blasts which rocked the area today, killing 12 US serviceman and up to 90 Afghans.
But he has now revealed in an interview with the BBC that he has been forced to give up on his attempt to get his animals and staff out of the country due to a decision by US President Joe Biden to change the rules on who is allowed into the airfield.
He said that even though his staff had been 'given approval' by the British Government to board a flight, 'the Taliban would not accept their paperwork' because they had been told to only allow people through who had a 'physical passport with a visa in it'.
He said his staff have now told him it is 'time to go' over fears for his safety, but added that he will be unable to take any of his animals due to the new rules.
Former Royal Marine Mr Farthing, who founded the Nowzad animal shelter in Kabul, has been engaged in a desperate attempt to board an RAF evacuation flight in recent days
It comes after Defence Secretary Ben Wallace hit out at criticism from supporters of the former Royal Marine Mr Farthing who claimed the minister had blocked a flight which would have taken the animals.
Paul Farthing, known as Pen, who founded the Nowzad shelter in Kabul, is aiming to get 200 dogs and cats alongside his animal shelter staff out of the country.
In a series of tweets, Mr Wallace lashed out at 'bullying, falsehoods and threatening behaviour' towards Ministry of Defence staff.
His animals are currently in a container outside the airport as they wait with their carer to board an evacuation flight.
Boris Johnson also denied he had had any influence on the rescue attempts.
In a series of tweets, Mr Wallace lashed out at 'bullying, falsehoods and threatening behaviour' towards Ministry of Defence staff.
Speaking on Thursday evening, Mr Wallace said: 'We got inside that airfield and just before that horrendous attack... we were told that Joe Biden had changed the policy on who is allowed into the airfield.
'And so my staff, even though they had been given approval by the British Government, the Taliban would not accept their paperwork because they had been told they could only allow people in with a physical passport with a visa in it.
'The Taliban obviously control the outer part of the airfield, so there is nothing I can do.'
He added: 'My mission to get them out of Afghanistan has just ended because Joe Biden stopped it.
'I can't overrule the President of the United States, he has said what paperwork that they need to obviously be able to get into the airfield.'
He said his staff have told him to leave because they do not think he will be 'welcome' under Taliban rule once Western forces have left.
'They asked me if I can get as many of the dogs and cats out with me so yeah,' he said.
'I can't take them with me because I can't get them now past those Taliban checkpoints because of the regulation that has come down.'
Describing his group's route to the airport, he said: 'We had gone through hell to get there, we have had Taliban cock their weapons and point them at our faces, one of them had what we used to call in the marines an ND – a negligent discharge where they basically accidentally pull the trigger.
'It was a miracle that he was an absolutely rubbish aim, otherwise one of us wouldn't be here now.'
Today's bomb blasts occurred after Mr Farthing's staff were refused passage through the Taliban checkpoint.
After the group had begun their journey with the animals back to their shelter, Mr Farthing said 'all hell broke loose' when the explosions went off'.
'We had Taliban there firing into the air, one let off a full magazine on automatic from his AK-47 right next to the window of our bus where we had women and children in,' he said.
'As we were trying to then flee from the airport we were getting teargassed, so we were trying to drive the vehicle while we obviously can't see anything.
It was just the most horrific thing, we have all managed to make it back to our animal shelter here...'
He also told how he met a British bus driver who is trapped with his children in Kabul after coming to Afghanistan to visit family.
The veteran said the man told him he was with a group of around 40 people, all of whom had British passports.
'There is no way they are going to be able to get home. There are thousands and thousands of people who are going to be left here who have every right in the world to get on a flight and come home,' he said.
'At certain checkpoints the Taliban won't let you through if you are of Afghan heritage but you've now got a foreign passport.'
Jihadist splinter group ISIS-K are believed to be behind today's attacks.
Besides the deaths of 12 US troops, senior health officials in Kabul say the death toll could be as high as 90 Afghans, with 143 more people believed to be injured.
Speaking earlier today, Mr Farthing also told how his group's driver narrowly avoided being 'shot in the head' by a gunman with an AK-47.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson denied he had had any influence on Mr Farthing's rescue attempt after being asked to intervene by his wife, Carrie, who is a vocal animal rights activist.
Make a run for the border... if you think you can make it...
The final betrayal: The Afghan translators who helped...
'ISIS suicide bomb' kills 13 at Kabul airport: TWO blasts...
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And, in a series of tweets, Mr Wallace rejected claims his staff had blocked a flight for Mr Farthing.
He said: 'Let's get some facts out there: One. No one, at any stage has blocked a flight.
'This is a total myth and is being peddled around as if that is why the pet evacuation hasn't taken place. Two. I never said I would not facilitate. I said no one would get to queue jump.
'Three. The issue, as those desperate people waiting outside the gates know too well, has always been getting processed through the entrances. It can take over 24 hours. There is no point turning up with a plane until the passengers / pets are airside.
'Four. As people were processed ARAP (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy), LOTR (Leave outside the Immigration Rules) etc they were called forward. Once processed and on the airfield they are marshalled on to a plane. As I have said we will facilitate at all stages but the priority will be people not pets.'
Mr Wallace went on to say there had been no 'U-turn' over the issue, calling for critics to allow civil servants and the military to deal 'with one of the most dangerous and challenging evacuations for a generation'.
He added: 'The bullying, falsehoods and threatening behaviour by some towards our MOD personnel and advisors is unacceptable and a shameful way to treat people trying to help the evacuation. They do their cause no good.'
Since the collapse of the Afghan government, Mr Farthing and his supporters have campaigned to have his staff and their families as well as 140 dogs and 60 cats evacuated from the country in a plan he has dubbed Operation Ark.
Reports have suggested the Prime Minister's wife Carrie stepped in to push for his rescue.
Asked about the reports today, Mr Johnson said: 'I've had absolutely no influence on any particular case, nor would that be right.
'That's not, that's not how we do things in this country.'
This morning, Mr Farthing issued a plea on Twitter to ensure his 'safe passage' into Kabul airport.
Addressing the Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, Mr Farthing said: 'Dear Sir; my team & my animals are stuck at airport circle. We have a flight waiting. Can you please facilitate safe passage into the airport for our convoy?
'We are an NGO who will come back to Afghanistan but right now I want to get everyone out safely.'
He added: 'We have been here for 10 hours after being assured that we would have safe passage. Truly would like to go home now. Let's prove the IEA are taking a different path.'
His friend and supporter Dominic Dyer, from Milton Keynes, said a privately funded plane had been due to land on Friday from Luton airport, but plans had to be scrapped due to security fears.
Mr Dyer said another plane is now waiting in a 'neighbouring country' but cannot land in Kabul until Mr Farthing is granted entry into the airport.
He said: 'We have a plan in place and we can act swiftly, but not until he's granted entry into the airport.
'It's a complicated situation and the door is closing, the next 24 to 48 hours are crucial - we need it to happen before then to avoid him, his staff and the animals becoming stuck in the country.
'There are options for him to go back to his centre and hunker down or he could try and leave the country on the road - but there are fears over the Taliban closing the borders, so it's unclear what's going to happen.'
Earlier on Thursday, Armed Forces minister James Heappey said British forces could not move 'desperate Afghans' to make way for Mr Farthing's pet rescue mission - as harrowing footage emerged of dogs suffering from the heat while stuck in a container outside Kabul airport.
Mr Heappey said that while the former Royal Marine deserved praise for staying behind with his staff and animals until they are evacuated, giving them priority over other desperate people waiting to leave 'doesn't feel like the right thing to do'.
Taliban militants have blocked Mr Farthing's convoy carrying 173 cats and dogs from entering Kabul airport to flee Afghanistan - as he warned the animals could soon die from heat exhaustion after being left for more than ten hours in a sweltering travel crate.
Today shocking footage emerged of the animals gasping for breath inside the packed container.
Summing up the situation this morning, Armed Forces minister James Heappey suggested it would be wrong to prioritise Mr Farthing and his animals for processing over other applicants.
He told Sky News: 'For him, it is a grim reality of these situations that as a British national we would seek to expedite his passage into the airport but he, commendably, has said that is not what he wants to do.
'He is asking us, the Americans and the Taliban for safe passage but I am afraid safe passage is also other words for being brought to the front of the queue.
'And I just wonder how you feel about having to make a decision whereby we move lots of desperate Afghans out of the way to bring him through because of the profile and the support he has. That doesn't feel like the right thing to do. It gives me no pleasure to say that though.'
Seeker22
Has No Life - Lives on TB
This crap started several days ago. If anything, Mr. Farthing has the right to cut in line because he jumped through all the hoops the .gov wanted him to, got his plane chartered and paid for- neither of these were easy, only to have these asshats bump him several times.
Being whipsawed between the despair and elation is it's own kind of torture. Having to give up these animals is far worse. The Taliban are kind gentle souls compared to these so called leaders. Our betters? I think they are not fit to carry Paul Farthing's muddy combat boots.
Yeah, I'm pissed.
They think it's funny. It's all a game to them and lives don't matter. I beg to differ.
Seeker22
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Jenny O'Brien
This is Copied from Pen 's own page..
A Recent plea from his Marine buddy....
Dear all Nowzad and Pen supporters I want to ask you all to cease fire on your negative tweets including Dominic Dyer to all politicians and military contacts. We are dealing with a major terrorist incident the very survival of Pen and his people rely on their cooperation this is no longer a game women and children are dying in Kabul we need all the friends we can. Many thanks for your help. I joined the Royal Marines with Pen if you need to know.
This is Copied from Pen 's own page..
A Recent plea from his Marine buddy....
Dear all Nowzad and Pen supporters I want to ask you all to cease fire on your negative tweets including Dominic Dyer to all politicians and military contacts. We are dealing with a major terrorist incident the very survival of Pen and his people rely on their cooperation this is no longer a game women and children are dying in Kabul we need all the friends we can. Many thanks for your help. I joined the Royal Marines with Pen if you need to know.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
I agree there is no need to continue attacking Mr. Dyer to all politicians and military contacts right now - the UK government got the message and Boris Johnson seems to have done what he could.
I do blame the man (Dyer) I went to bed in a way I don't like which is in a state of incandescent rage because I am 100 percent convinced that he had something to do ultimately with the blocking of the animals and Afghan exiles, although I do suspect the US also played a part (but it wouldn't surprise me if that was upon request).
Mr. Biden may be a disaster as President but I very much doubt he was even aware of the "orders" to not let a British Citizen, with people, be granted British Assylum by the Prime Minister on a British chartered plane. Now "Biden" (his handlers) may have ordered simply that no one without a hard copy passport gets on a plane, I don't know.
But if Penn is posting this from a Marine buddy it means he is asking for calm and quiet, he knows now that everyone in that shelter including 70 human beings plus himself is now a well-known target.
Staying quiet and trying to keep everyone possible alive for the next few days and weeks is the only option for the time being.
As I told Nightwolf last night I see only two main possibilities for the near future:
1. Things quiet down, the Taliban ignore the shelter (for now at least) and we can resume efforts towards fundraising so they can feed their people and animals while hunkering down (as the banks open this may get easier). Meanwhile hope Pip can either get home himself or with others on a commercial flight if the way out via UK evacuation is closed to him (I don't know if it is or not, but my understanding is they are not taking out any more people).
2. The Taliban decide to make an example, they go in and either just kill the animals or everyone in the shelter. Perhaps they take them to prison or take the women in the usual manner as sex slaves or assigned as wives to the Taliban fighters.
Obviously, the best option is number one and I think that is why Pip is asking for quiet right now; he doesn't want to be forgotten, but the time is past for pelting the UK government with thousands of e-mails begging for a rescue plane isn't coming, at least not for now.
Maybe, just maybe, if we can keep everyone alive and sorted, there can be a rescue in the not too distant future.
Just my thoughts this morning (and I did meditation and prayers before going to sleep, I didn't try to sleep that angry).
I do blame the man (Dyer) I went to bed in a way I don't like which is in a state of incandescent rage because I am 100 percent convinced that he had something to do ultimately with the blocking of the animals and Afghan exiles, although I do suspect the US also played a part (but it wouldn't surprise me if that was upon request).
Mr. Biden may be a disaster as President but I very much doubt he was even aware of the "orders" to not let a British Citizen, with people, be granted British Assylum by the Prime Minister on a British chartered plane. Now "Biden" (his handlers) may have ordered simply that no one without a hard copy passport gets on a plane, I don't know.
But if Penn is posting this from a Marine buddy it means he is asking for calm and quiet, he knows now that everyone in that shelter including 70 human beings plus himself is now a well-known target.
Staying quiet and trying to keep everyone possible alive for the next few days and weeks is the only option for the time being.
As I told Nightwolf last night I see only two main possibilities for the near future:
1. Things quiet down, the Taliban ignore the shelter (for now at least) and we can resume efforts towards fundraising so they can feed their people and animals while hunkering down (as the banks open this may get easier). Meanwhile hope Pip can either get home himself or with others on a commercial flight if the way out via UK evacuation is closed to him (I don't know if it is or not, but my understanding is they are not taking out any more people).
2. The Taliban decide to make an example, they go in and either just kill the animals or everyone in the shelter. Perhaps they take them to prison or take the women in the usual manner as sex slaves or assigned as wives to the Taliban fighters.
Obviously, the best option is number one and I think that is why Pip is asking for quiet right now; he doesn't want to be forgotten, but the time is past for pelting the UK government with thousands of e-mails begging for a rescue plane isn't coming, at least not for now.
Maybe, just maybe, if we can keep everyone alive and sorted, there can be a rescue in the not too distant future.
Just my thoughts this morning (and I did meditation and prayers before going to sleep, I didn't try to sleep that angry).
Seeker22
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Now, we must do everything to keep Pen and his team and animals safe and the money flowing again that will allow them to continue. The only way I can process this turn of events is to go back to better, brighter days. This first one is Pen accepting his 2014 CNN Heroes Award and the second is Loggins & Messina's beautiful "Brighter Days".
Melodi
Disaster Cat
This just in, it is part of a very long UK Daily Mail article with pictures at the link - fingers crossed at least Pip may get out with the animals but not sadly, his staff. I think the UK government has realized just how bad this looks, especially their being sent away after they all got into the airport.
Pen Farthing and his animals WILL be evacuated from Kabul after army helps them through airport and government finally gives charter flight clearance - but MoD makes no mention of his 24 Afghan staff
The Ministry of Defence announced on Twitter that the former Royal Marine was 'awaiting transportation'
The animal charity boss had earlier hired a private plane which was due to take off from Luton
But Mr Farthing said mission to evacuate staff and animals has been stopped by Biden's policy change
He said the Taliban are now only allowing people through checkpoints if they have a 'passport with a visa in it'
By CHRIS JEWERS FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 18:52, 27 August 2021 | UPDATED: 19:54, 27 August 2021
Pen Farthing and his rescue dogs have been allowed through at Kabul airport and will be evacuated from Afghanistan after the government finally gave his charter flight clearance to take off.
Defence bosses confirmed on Twitter that the former Royal Marine and his animals are awaiting transportation and are being supported by the UK Armed Forces after he was helped through the airport by the army.
When contacted by the MailOnline, the Ministry of Defence declined to clarify whether the charter flight would also be transporting Mr Farthing's 25 Afghan staff.
'Pen Farthing and his pets were assisted through the system at Kabul airport by the UK Armed Forces. They are currently being supported while he awaits transportation,' the Ministry of Defence said in a tweet on Friday night.
'On the direction of the Defence Secretary, clearance for their charter flight has been sponsored by the UK Government,' the statement added.
Paul 'Pen' Farthing's campaign to get his staff and animals from the Nowzad shelter out of Afghanistan has caused controversy in recent days, after receiving a huge amount of public support.
The animal charity boss had earlier hired a private plane which was due to take off from Luton, but it was prevented from doing so so due to security concerns in the wake of an ISIS attack that killed 103 people.
Mr Farthing and his team got 300m inside Kabul Airport yesterday but were turned away by Taliban fighters due to President Biden deciding to change visa requirements.
The campaigner tweeted: 'The whole team & dogs/cats were safely 300m inside the airport perimeter. We were turned away as @JoeBiden had changed paperwork rules just 2 hours earlier.
'Went through hell to get there & we were turned away into the chaos of those devastating explosions. #OperationArk'
His friend, fellow activist Dominic Dyer - who had been hoping to board the flight from the UK - said the 'security situation' had prevented it from going ahead.
'There is a plan that we could operate but I just don't know if that could be possible,' he told Good Morning Britain. 'We hope and pray we can get him, his staff and animals home.'
After criticising Britain's evacuation mission as 'badly run' he was branded an 'armchair amateur' by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who accused him of not understanding how an operation of that scaled worked.
The Tory politician also said Mr Farthing and his allies had 'taken up too much time' of senior commanders during the crisis.
The former Royal Marine, who founded the Nowzad animal shelter in Kabul, has been engaged in a desperate attempt to board an RAF evacuation flight in recent days +22
The former Royal Marine, who founded the Nowzad animal shelter in Kabul, has been engaged in a desperate attempt to board an RAF evacuation flight in recent days
Mr Farthing suffered another crippling setback yesterday when the Taliban blocked him from entering the airport so he could board a British military jet +22
Mr Farthing suffered another crippling setback yesterday when the Taliban blocked him from entering the airport so he could board a British military jet
Yesterday, Mr Farthing narrowly avoided the airport suicide bomb blasts which rocked the area, killing 12 US serviceman and up to 90 Afghans.
He revealed in an interview with the BBC that he has been forced to give up on his attempt to get his animals and staff out of the country due to a decision by US President Joe Biden to change the rules on who is allowed into the airfield.
Mr Farthing said that even though his staff had been 'given approval' by the British Government to board a flight, 'the Taliban would not accept their paperwork' because they had been told to only allow people through who had a 'physical passport with a visa in it'.
He said his staff have now told him it is 'time to go' over fears for his safety, but added that he will be unable to take any of his animals due to the new rules.
Yesterday, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace hit out at criticism from supporters Mr Farthing after they claimed the minister had blocked a flight which would have taken the animals.
Mr Farthing's group also narrowly avoided the airport suicide bomb blasts which rocked the area yesterday, killing 12 US serviceman and up to 90 Afghans. Above: Wounded Afghans in hospital after the blasts +22
In a series of tweets, Mr Wallace lashed out at 'bullying, falsehoods and threatening behaviour' towards Ministry of Defence staff.
Speaking on Thursday evening, Mr Farthing said: 'We got inside that airfield and just before that horrendous attack... we were told that Joe Biden had changed the policy on who is allowed into the airfield.
'And so my staff, even though they had been given approval by the British Government, the Taliban would not accept their paperwork because they had been told they could only allow people in with a physical passport with a visa in it.
'The Taliban obviously control the outer part of the airfield, so there is nothing I can do.'
He added: 'My mission to get them out of Afghanistan has just ended because Joe Biden stopped it.
'I can't overrule the President of the United States, he has said what paperwork that they need to obviously be able to get into the airfield.'
He said his staff have told him to leave because they do not think he will be 'welcome' under Taliban rule once Western forces have left.
'They asked me if I can get as many of the dogs and cats out with me so yeah,' he said.
'I can't take them with me because I can't get them now past those Taliban checkpoints because of the regulation that has come down.'
Describing his group's route to the airport, he said: 'We had gone through hell to get there, we have had Taliban cock their weapons and point them at our faces, one of them had what we used to call in the marines an ND – a negligent discharge where they basically accidentally pull the trigger.
'It was a miracle that he was an absolutely rubbish aim, otherwise one of us wouldn't be here now.'
Yesterday's bomb blasts occurred after Mr Farthing's staff were refused passage through the Taliban checkpoint.
After the group had begun their journey with the animals back to their shelter, Mr Farthing said 'all hell broke loose' when the explosions went off'.
'We had Taliban there firing into the air, one let off a full magazine on automatic from his AK-47 right next to the window of our bus where we had women and children in,' he said.
'As we were trying to then flee from the airport we were getting teargassed, so we were trying to drive the vehicle while we obviously can't see anything.
It was just the most horrific thing, we have all managed to make it back to our animal shelter here...'
He also told how he met a British bus driver who is trapped with his children in Kabul after coming to Afghanistan to visit family.
The veteran said the man told him he was with a group of around 40 people, all of whom had British passports.
'There is no way they are going to be able to get home. There are thousands and thousands of people who are going to be left here who have every right in the world to get on a flight and come home,' he said.
'At certain checkpoints the Taliban won't let you through if you are of Afghan heritage but you've now got a foreign passport.'
Jihadist splinter group ISIS-K are believed to be behind yesterday's attacks.
Besides the deaths of 12 US troops, senior health officials in Kabul say the death toll could be as high as 90 Afghans, with 143 more people believed to be injured.
Speaking earlier yesterday, Mr Farthing also told how his group's driver narrowly avoided being 'shot in the head' by a gunman with an AK-47.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson denied he had had any influence on Mr Farthing's rescue attempt after being asked to intervene by his wife, Carrie, who is a vocal animal rights activist.
And, in a series of tweets, Mr Wallace rejected claims his staff had blocked a flight for Mr Farthing.
He said: 'Let's get some facts out there: One. No one, at any stage has blocked a flight.
'This is a total myth and is being peddled around as if that is why the pet evacuation hasn't taken place. Two. I never said I would not facilitate. I said no one would get to queue jump.
'Three. The issue, as those desperate people waiting outside the gates know too well, has always been getting processed through the entrances. It can take over 24 hours. There is no point turning up with a plane until the passengers / pets are airside.
'Four. As people were processed ARAP (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy), LOTR (Leave outside the Immigration Rules) etc they were called forward. Once processed and on the airfield they are marshalled on to a plane. As I have said we will facilitate at all stages but the priority will be people not pets.'
Mr Wallace went on to say there had been no 'U-turn' over the issue, calling for critics to allow civil servants and the military to deal 'with one of the most dangerous and challenging evacuations for a generation'.
He added: 'The bullying, falsehoods and threatening behaviour by some towards our MOD personnel and advisors is unacceptable and a shameful way to treat people trying to help the evacuation. They do their cause no good.'
Since the collapse of the Afghan government, Mr Farthing and his supporters have campaigned to have his staff and their families as well as 140 dogs and 60 cats evacuated from the country in a plan he has dubbed Operation Ark.
Reports have suggested the Prime Minister's wife Carrie stepped in to push for his rescue.
Asked about the reports yesterday, Mr Johnson said: 'I've had absolutely no influence on any particular case, nor would that be right.
'That's not, that's not how we do things in this country.'
This morning, Mr Farthing issued a plea on Twitter to ensure his 'safe passage' into Kabul airport.
Addressing the Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, Mr Farthing said: 'Dear Sir; my team & my animals are stuck at airport circle. We have a flight waiting. Can you please facilitate safe passage into the airport for our convoy?
'We are an NGO who will come back to Afghanistan but right now I want to get everyone out safely.'
He added: 'We have been here for 10 hours after being assured that we would have safe passage. Truly would like to go home now. Let's prove the IEA are taking a different path.'
His friend and supporter Dominic Dyer, from Milton Keynes, said a privately funded plane had been due to land on Friday from Luton airport, but plans had to be scrapped due to security fears.
Mr Dyer said another plane is now waiting in a 'neighbouring country' but cannot land in Kabul until Mr Farthing is granted entry into the airport.
He said: 'We have a plan in place and we can act swiftly, but not until he's granted entry into the airport.
'It's a complicated situation and the door is closing, the next 24 to 48 hours are crucial - we need it to happen before then to avoid him, his staff and the animals becoming stuck in the country.
'There are options for him to go back to his centre and hunker down or he could try and leave the country on the road - but there are fears over the Taliban closing the borders, so it's unclear what's going to happen.'
Earlier on Thursday, Armed Forces minister James Heappey said British forces could not move 'desperate Afghans' to make way for Mr Farthing's pet rescue mission - as harrowing footage emerged of dogs suffering from the heat while stuck in a container outside Kabul airport.
Mr Heappey said that while the former Royal Marine deserved praise for staying behind with his staff and animals until they are evacuated, giving them priority over other desperate people waiting to leave 'doesn't feel like the right thing to do'.
Taliban militants have blocked Mr Farthing's convoy carrying 173 cats and dogs from entering Kabul airport to flee Afghanistan - as he warned the animals could soon die from heat exhaustion after being left for more than ten hours in a sweltering travel crate.
Yesterday shocking footage emerged of the animals gasping for breath inside the packed container.
Summing up the situation this morning, Armed Forces minister James Heappey suggested it would be wrong to prioritise Mr Farthing and his animals for processing over other applicants.
He told Sky News: 'For him, it is a grim reality of these situations that as a British national we would seek to expedite his passage into the airport but he, commendably, has said that is not what he wants to do.
'He is asking us, the Americans and the Taliban for safe passage but I am afraid safe passage is also other words for being brought to the front of the queue.
'And I just wonder how you feel about having to make a decision whereby we move lots of desperate Afghans out of the way to bring him through because of the profile and the support he has. That doesn't feel like the right thing to do. It gives me no pleasure to say that though.'
On Thursday Mr Farthing appealed directly to the Taliban on Twitter in a desperate bid to secure the release of the animals.
Addressing Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, Mr Farthing wrote: 'Dear Sir; my team and my animals are stuck at airport circle. We have a flight waiting. Can you please facilitate safe passage into the airport for our convoy?
'We are an NGO who will come back to Afghanistan but right now I want to get everyone out safely.
'We have been here for 10 hours after being assured that we would have safe passage. Truly would like to go home now. Let's prove the IEA are taking a different path.'
Pen Farthing and his animals WILL be evacuated from Kabul after army helps them through airport and government finally gives charter flight clearance - but MoD makes no mention of his 24 Afghan staff
The Ministry of Defence announced on Twitter that the former Royal Marine was 'awaiting transportation'
The animal charity boss had earlier hired a private plane which was due to take off from Luton
But Mr Farthing said mission to evacuate staff and animals has been stopped by Biden's policy change
He said the Taliban are now only allowing people through checkpoints if they have a 'passport with a visa in it'
By CHRIS JEWERS FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 18:52, 27 August 2021 | UPDATED: 19:54, 27 August 2021
Pen Farthing and his rescue dogs have been allowed through at Kabul airport and will be evacuated from Afghanistan after the government finally gave his charter flight clearance to take off.
Defence bosses confirmed on Twitter that the former Royal Marine and his animals are awaiting transportation and are being supported by the UK Armed Forces after he was helped through the airport by the army.
When contacted by the MailOnline, the Ministry of Defence declined to clarify whether the charter flight would also be transporting Mr Farthing's 25 Afghan staff.
'Pen Farthing and his pets were assisted through the system at Kabul airport by the UK Armed Forces. They are currently being supported while he awaits transportation,' the Ministry of Defence said in a tweet on Friday night.
'On the direction of the Defence Secretary, clearance for their charter flight has been sponsored by the UK Government,' the statement added.
Paul 'Pen' Farthing's campaign to get his staff and animals from the Nowzad shelter out of Afghanistan has caused controversy in recent days, after receiving a huge amount of public support.
The animal charity boss had earlier hired a private plane which was due to take off from Luton, but it was prevented from doing so so due to security concerns in the wake of an ISIS attack that killed 103 people.
Mr Farthing and his team got 300m inside Kabul Airport yesterday but were turned away by Taliban fighters due to President Biden deciding to change visa requirements.
The campaigner tweeted: 'The whole team & dogs/cats were safely 300m inside the airport perimeter. We were turned away as @JoeBiden had changed paperwork rules just 2 hours earlier.
'Went through hell to get there & we were turned away into the chaos of those devastating explosions. #OperationArk'
His friend, fellow activist Dominic Dyer - who had been hoping to board the flight from the UK - said the 'security situation' had prevented it from going ahead.
'There is a plan that we could operate but I just don't know if that could be possible,' he told Good Morning Britain. 'We hope and pray we can get him, his staff and animals home.'
After criticising Britain's evacuation mission as 'badly run' he was branded an 'armchair amateur' by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who accused him of not understanding how an operation of that scaled worked.
The Tory politician also said Mr Farthing and his allies had 'taken up too much time' of senior commanders during the crisis.
The former Royal Marine, who founded the Nowzad animal shelter in Kabul, has been engaged in a desperate attempt to board an RAF evacuation flight in recent days +22
The former Royal Marine, who founded the Nowzad animal shelter in Kabul, has been engaged in a desperate attempt to board an RAF evacuation flight in recent days
Mr Farthing suffered another crippling setback yesterday when the Taliban blocked him from entering the airport so he could board a British military jet +22
Mr Farthing suffered another crippling setback yesterday when the Taliban blocked him from entering the airport so he could board a British military jet
Yesterday, Mr Farthing narrowly avoided the airport suicide bomb blasts which rocked the area, killing 12 US serviceman and up to 90 Afghans.
He revealed in an interview with the BBC that he has been forced to give up on his attempt to get his animals and staff out of the country due to a decision by US President Joe Biden to change the rules on who is allowed into the airfield.
Mr Farthing said that even though his staff had been 'given approval' by the British Government to board a flight, 'the Taliban would not accept their paperwork' because they had been told to only allow people through who had a 'physical passport with a visa in it'.
He said his staff have now told him it is 'time to go' over fears for his safety, but added that he will be unable to take any of his animals due to the new rules.
Yesterday, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace hit out at criticism from supporters Mr Farthing after they claimed the minister had blocked a flight which would have taken the animals.
Mr Farthing's group also narrowly avoided the airport suicide bomb blasts which rocked the area yesterday, killing 12 US serviceman and up to 90 Afghans. Above: Wounded Afghans in hospital after the blasts +22
In a series of tweets, Mr Wallace lashed out at 'bullying, falsehoods and threatening behaviour' towards Ministry of Defence staff.
Speaking on Thursday evening, Mr Farthing said: 'We got inside that airfield and just before that horrendous attack... we were told that Joe Biden had changed the policy on who is allowed into the airfield.
'And so my staff, even though they had been given approval by the British Government, the Taliban would not accept their paperwork because they had been told they could only allow people in with a physical passport with a visa in it.
'The Taliban obviously control the outer part of the airfield, so there is nothing I can do.'
He added: 'My mission to get them out of Afghanistan has just ended because Joe Biden stopped it.
'I can't overrule the President of the United States, he has said what paperwork that they need to obviously be able to get into the airfield.'
He said his staff have told him to leave because they do not think he will be 'welcome' under Taliban rule once Western forces have left.
'They asked me if I can get as many of the dogs and cats out with me so yeah,' he said.
'I can't take them with me because I can't get them now past those Taliban checkpoints because of the regulation that has come down.'
Describing his group's route to the airport, he said: 'We had gone through hell to get there, we have had Taliban cock their weapons and point them at our faces, one of them had what we used to call in the marines an ND – a negligent discharge where they basically accidentally pull the trigger.
'It was a miracle that he was an absolutely rubbish aim, otherwise one of us wouldn't be here now.'
Yesterday's bomb blasts occurred after Mr Farthing's staff were refused passage through the Taliban checkpoint.
After the group had begun their journey with the animals back to their shelter, Mr Farthing said 'all hell broke loose' when the explosions went off'.
'We had Taliban there firing into the air, one let off a full magazine on automatic from his AK-47 right next to the window of our bus where we had women and children in,' he said.
'As we were trying to then flee from the airport we were getting teargassed, so we were trying to drive the vehicle while we obviously can't see anything.
It was just the most horrific thing, we have all managed to make it back to our animal shelter here...'
He also told how he met a British bus driver who is trapped with his children in Kabul after coming to Afghanistan to visit family.
The veteran said the man told him he was with a group of around 40 people, all of whom had British passports.
'There is no way they are going to be able to get home. There are thousands and thousands of people who are going to be left here who have every right in the world to get on a flight and come home,' he said.
'At certain checkpoints the Taliban won't let you through if you are of Afghan heritage but you've now got a foreign passport.'
Jihadist splinter group ISIS-K are believed to be behind yesterday's attacks.
Besides the deaths of 12 US troops, senior health officials in Kabul say the death toll could be as high as 90 Afghans, with 143 more people believed to be injured.
Speaking earlier yesterday, Mr Farthing also told how his group's driver narrowly avoided being 'shot in the head' by a gunman with an AK-47.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson denied he had had any influence on Mr Farthing's rescue attempt after being asked to intervene by his wife, Carrie, who is a vocal animal rights activist.
And, in a series of tweets, Mr Wallace rejected claims his staff had blocked a flight for Mr Farthing.
He said: 'Let's get some facts out there: One. No one, at any stage has blocked a flight.
'This is a total myth and is being peddled around as if that is why the pet evacuation hasn't taken place. Two. I never said I would not facilitate. I said no one would get to queue jump.
'Three. The issue, as those desperate people waiting outside the gates know too well, has always been getting processed through the entrances. It can take over 24 hours. There is no point turning up with a plane until the passengers / pets are airside.
'Four. As people were processed ARAP (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy), LOTR (Leave outside the Immigration Rules) etc they were called forward. Once processed and on the airfield they are marshalled on to a plane. As I have said we will facilitate at all stages but the priority will be people not pets.'
Mr Wallace went on to say there had been no 'U-turn' over the issue, calling for critics to allow civil servants and the military to deal 'with one of the most dangerous and challenging evacuations for a generation'.
He added: 'The bullying, falsehoods and threatening behaviour by some towards our MOD personnel and advisors is unacceptable and a shameful way to treat people trying to help the evacuation. They do their cause no good.'
Since the collapse of the Afghan government, Mr Farthing and his supporters have campaigned to have his staff and their families as well as 140 dogs and 60 cats evacuated from the country in a plan he has dubbed Operation Ark.
Reports have suggested the Prime Minister's wife Carrie stepped in to push for his rescue.
Asked about the reports yesterday, Mr Johnson said: 'I've had absolutely no influence on any particular case, nor would that be right.
'That's not, that's not how we do things in this country.'
This morning, Mr Farthing issued a plea on Twitter to ensure his 'safe passage' into Kabul airport.
Addressing the Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, Mr Farthing said: 'Dear Sir; my team & my animals are stuck at airport circle. We have a flight waiting. Can you please facilitate safe passage into the airport for our convoy?
'We are an NGO who will come back to Afghanistan but right now I want to get everyone out safely.'
He added: 'We have been here for 10 hours after being assured that we would have safe passage. Truly would like to go home now. Let's prove the IEA are taking a different path.'
His friend and supporter Dominic Dyer, from Milton Keynes, said a privately funded plane had been due to land on Friday from Luton airport, but plans had to be scrapped due to security fears.
Mr Dyer said another plane is now waiting in a 'neighbouring country' but cannot land in Kabul until Mr Farthing is granted entry into the airport.
He said: 'We have a plan in place and we can act swiftly, but not until he's granted entry into the airport.
'It's a complicated situation and the door is closing, the next 24 to 48 hours are crucial - we need it to happen before then to avoid him, his staff and the animals becoming stuck in the country.
'There are options for him to go back to his centre and hunker down or he could try and leave the country on the road - but there are fears over the Taliban closing the borders, so it's unclear what's going to happen.'
Earlier on Thursday, Armed Forces minister James Heappey said British forces could not move 'desperate Afghans' to make way for Mr Farthing's pet rescue mission - as harrowing footage emerged of dogs suffering from the heat while stuck in a container outside Kabul airport.
Mr Heappey said that while the former Royal Marine deserved praise for staying behind with his staff and animals until they are evacuated, giving them priority over other desperate people waiting to leave 'doesn't feel like the right thing to do'.
Taliban militants have blocked Mr Farthing's convoy carrying 173 cats and dogs from entering Kabul airport to flee Afghanistan - as he warned the animals could soon die from heat exhaustion after being left for more than ten hours in a sweltering travel crate.
Yesterday shocking footage emerged of the animals gasping for breath inside the packed container.
Summing up the situation this morning, Armed Forces minister James Heappey suggested it would be wrong to prioritise Mr Farthing and his animals for processing over other applicants.
He told Sky News: 'For him, it is a grim reality of these situations that as a British national we would seek to expedite his passage into the airport but he, commendably, has said that is not what he wants to do.
'He is asking us, the Americans and the Taliban for safe passage but I am afraid safe passage is also other words for being brought to the front of the queue.
'And I just wonder how you feel about having to make a decision whereby we move lots of desperate Afghans out of the way to bring him through because of the profile and the support he has. That doesn't feel like the right thing to do. It gives me no pleasure to say that though.'
On Thursday Mr Farthing appealed directly to the Taliban on Twitter in a desperate bid to secure the release of the animals.
Addressing Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, Mr Farthing wrote: 'Dear Sir; my team and my animals are stuck at airport circle. We have a flight waiting. Can you please facilitate safe passage into the airport for our convoy?
'We are an NGO who will come back to Afghanistan but right now I want to get everyone out safely.
'We have been here for 10 hours after being assured that we would have safe passage. Truly would like to go home now. Let's prove the IEA are taking a different path.'