Ex-Royal Marine separated from wife in Kabul airport chaos as Brits ‘crushed in stampede’ in race to flee Afghanistan

AN Ex-Royal Marine has been separated from his wife amid the distressing Kabul Airport chaos.

Veteran Paul 'Pen' Farthing tried to organise her escape on Tuesday, but said she and other Brits were “crushed in the stampede” in their frantic race to flee war-torn Afghanistan.

His wife Kaisa Markhus is now believed to be in a secure location, with a pregnant colleague, after the two women were denied entry to the airfield by British and US troops.

Farthing said on Facebook: "If I hear on the radio or the TV one more time that the airport is secure, it's not - absolutely not.

"And for them to try to be evacuated and have to be groped, pushed and crushed to get to the gate and then refused by the British soldiers and the American soldiers on the other side to open it - all those soldiers need to grow a pair."

Troops are still scrambling to airlift tens of thousands of Afghan allies from Kabul but military chiefs have admitted they can only stay on the ground as long as the Taliban allows.

Scores of people are in a desperate race to flee Afghanistan before the Taliban seizes the airport.

Former Royal Marine Commando and charity founder Paul Farthing set up the Nozad animal sanctuary, which has been rescuing stray dogs, cats and other animals for 15 years.

Dominic Dyer, a leading animal welfare activist, said he has recently been in touch with Mr Farthing after his wife tried to leave via Kabul Airport.

He said: "The situation as it stands is that Pen has tried to get his wife and his office manager out of Kabul on a commercial flight, on the basis that the governments in Britain and America were saying the airport was more secure, but when he got there he found it wasn't secure at all.

";They were crushed when they got the airport, it was very dangerous.

"He was very angry that UK military forces deployed on the other side of the fence did not actually step over the line to try and stop the situation, leaving civilians and foreign nationals trying to exit the country in a very dangerous position.

"I do think it raises serious concerns about what is going to happen unless those soldiers and armed forces are able to exit the airport security cordon to take more control of the surrounding areas - at the moment that's just not happening."

The regime now controls all access points to the airport amid chaotic evacuation efforts and streams of people have been pictured queuing for hours to get documents and board flights.

Up to 600 members of Afghan security forces are helping provide security even as the country's military and government has collapsed, the Pentagon said.

At least 12 military flights took off from Kabul on Tuesday, including three UK planes as troops aim to rescue 6,000 Brits and Afghan allies.

My wife and pregnant colleague are distraught, upset and frightened.

Pen Farthing

But Farthing, 57, has slammed the government's handling of the evacuation as "unacceptable" after his wife and a heavily pregnant colleague were caught up in a "crush" outside the airport.

Farthing explained earlier on Tuesday that his wife and one of his dog shelter's managers - who is 34 weeks' pregnant - headed to the airport after being told to get there within an hour.

He claimed the British troops refused to leave the compound inside the airport to rescue the struggling women on the other side of the gate.

"There is no security on the outside at Kabul airport – they got caught and crushed in the stampede," he told Sky News.

"They were at the gates of Kabul Airport at the side they had been told to go and were in contact with the rapid reaction force at the other side of the gate.

"As a Royal Marine Commando I am absolutely furious with these soldiers because they refused to go out of that camp to rescue those people to get them inside the safety of Kabul airfield.

"People are going to die."

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He added: "If the British military are there, they will not get outside and rescue some of the people they’ve been sent to get out of Kabul safely then what is the point of them being here.

"I have no idea where my wife is. This is not acceptable. The soldiers sent to withdraw expats left them in a crush. I am beyond furious."

The Nowzad charity founder later confirmed his wife and his colleague did not make it into the airport and are "now in Kabul at night trying to get home".

And in a further update at about 11pm GMT on Tuesday, he tweeted that his wife and the pregnant country manager are "finally in a safe house in Kabul.

"Distraught, upset and frightened."

It is up to these individuals, as we call them forward, to make their own way to the airport.

Royal Navy Vice Admiral Sir Ben Key

Royal Navy Vice Admiral Sir Ben Key, who is leading the evacuation operation, said it was up to individuals called forward to make their own way to the airport, and "much of that journey is for them to undertake".

Sir Ben told Sky News: "It is quite obvious that the Taliban now are the prevalent security providers across Afghanistan, that's a fact,.

"So therefore it is up to them and these individuals, as we call them forward, to make their own way to the vicinity of the airport.

"We then bring them into the airport and process them."

He added: "The demand placed upon us is in the order of 6,000, both Arap (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy) and entitled person

"Those numbers are changing all the time as we understand the scale of the ask, people are coming forward making themselves known through the FCDO consular services or into us under the Arap programme.

"How long have we got to do it? We don't really know, so every day we are working as hard as we can to bring as many forward into this pipeline as we possibly can.

"Clearly there is a dynamic political situation running across the city.

"We make no assumptions about that other than we really can't afford to pause and wait."

Sir Ben told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme the Taliban seemed "acquiescent" about allowing people to access the airport.

He said: "It is a statement of fact that they are now controlling all of the access points around the airport, so at a tactical level, around the gates, we are having to have a pragmatic engagement with the local Taliban commanders.

"And thus far, and recognise, please, that we are only a day and a half into this kind of new situation, they have seemed acquiescent and understanding of what we are trying to achieve.

"We don't take it for granted, and the local commanders continue to engage with them at the gate accesses to achieve what we want to achieve."