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Ricky Gervais furious ‘they rescued a f***ing car’ in startling pic of Afghanistan rescue mission
RICKY Gervais has expressed his fury at a "f***ing car" being "rescued" during the evacuation of Afghanistan.
The row erupted as pictures emerged of British troops flying out an armoured vehicle while thousands of desperate Afghans were stranded outside Kabul airport due to a Taliban blockade.
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Comic Gervais tweeted: “And they rescued a f***ing car? Shame.”
Officials insisted the Toyota car was a diplomatic vehicle and there was empty space on the flight.
Animals are also facing death row in Afghanistan unless they get a mercy flight with rescue centre staff.
Gervais backed efforts to rescue animals, writing on Twitter: “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.”
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The Sun saw 94 dogs and dozens of cats at the Nowzad animal shelter in Taliban-controlled Kabul - where ex Royal Marine Pen Farthing is racing against the clock to save animals and devoted staff who care for them.
The former commando said the Nowzad charity, which he founded in 2007, had raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to charter a private rescue flight – in a mission code named Operation Ark.
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He wants to fly 94 dogs, 79 cats and 69 Afghan refugees out of Kabul airport.
But Defence Secretary Ben Wallace slammed Pen’s plan as “b****cks” and said people had to come before pets.
Pen hit back, telling The Sun: “Wallace is signing these dogs’ death warrants – and likewise for the people.”
He insisted his mercy flight would help more people get out of the embattled nation.
“We want to bring in an aircraft with 250 seats and we only neat 69 of them,” Pen added.
“The MoD can stick whoever they want in those seats. I don’t care. We are paying for it.
"It costs the taxpayer nothing and could be a bit of good news.”
Pen, who served in Helmand in 2006, said all he needed to was approval to land a plane at Kabul airport.
All the dogs and cats from Nowzad’s three sites have been reolcated to the charity's headquarters.
They were cramped into kennels together to be ready to move at a moment’s notice if they get a green light to fly.
They include a dozen British embassy cats – such as Mr Grey, Chopsy, Sweep, and Scar – which were dumped by British diplomats when the embassy collapsed to inside Kabul airport.
At least 15 of the dogs belonged to non governmental organisations and western security companies whose staff have already fled.
RATIONS PACKED
Pen said Nowzad’s staff, who have continued to come to work since the Taliban seized Kabul, have packed three days rations – tins, biscuit and water – so the animals can survive at the airport if they have to wait for a flight.
And they have filled a room with travel crates ready to transport them.
But time is running out, Pen warned.
As a former Royal Marine, he says it was too dangerous for him to remain in Afghanistan under Taliban rule when foreign forces leave next week.
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Whitehall insiders said they were trying to get Pen's staff out of Afghanistan, but said it was very unlikely the animals would be rescued.
But The Sun understands that officials in the Environment Department have been working on contingency plans to put the animals in quarantine if they do land in Britain.
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