A former British soldier who is stranded in Afghanistan has been arrested by the Taliban while attempting to evacuate 400 Afghans.
Ben Slater, 37, was thrown in prison on Thursday morning and questioned about members of his 50 staff, most of whom are single women and had been staying in hotel rooms near a border checkpoint.
The former member of the Royal Military Police runs a chain of NGOs in Afghanistan and had been attempting to evacuate his staff over a land border after failing to secure spots for them and their families on the British airlift from Kabul, Mail Online reports.
British ex-soldier arrested by the Taliban as his bid to evacuate 400 Afghans fails
The report said his mission failed after a coach carrying the staff was turned away at a land border.
Slater was released later on Thursday September 2, and told he could cross the border with one assistant, but that the rest of his staff had to remain in Afghanistan, The Telegraph reported.
He told the paper that he will try to secure visas for his staff from the UK or another Western country.
Slater also again called on the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to help get them out of Afghanistan.
‘The final blow to the op is that the UK are only granting myself and one of my executive assistants over the border today, and they haven’t even suggested they are going to issue the visas for some or the rest of my group,’ he told The Telegraph.
‘It’s a complete disaster really. It’s disgusting. It’s beyond horrible.’
The FCDO has advised British citizens still in Afghanistan to make their way back to the UK via a third country.