London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Oct 26, 2025

British troops ‘metres away’ from Kabul bomb blast given therapy

British troops ‘metres away’ from Kabul bomb blast given therapy

Officers say soldiers encouraged to ‘share feelings and open up’ after trauma of Afghan evacuation
British soldiers were “a matter of metres” from last week’s deadly bomb blast at Kabul airport – and are taking part in decompression therapy to help deal with any trauma they suffered during the dangerous two-week evacuation.

Commanding officers, speaking for the first time after returning from the Afghan capital, said it was sheer good fortune that prevented British troops from being killed in the attack alongside 170 Afghans and 13 Americans.

Lt Col David Middleton, a paratroop commander, said “the proximity between ourselves and the Americans was a matter of metres” and that “the position by which the explosion went off just happened to be in the American area”.

A leaked account of the run-up to the attack from the Pentagon appeared to blame the British for wanting to keep open the Abbey Gate, where one of two bombs went off, so the UK could complete the last phase of its evacuation.

Middleton sought to set aside suggestions of Anglo-American disagreements, saying it was “in both our interests” to keep the gate open. “We are heartfelt sorry for the Americans we were so close with and controlled that piece of ground with,” he added.

Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate, ISKP, claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place in the area outside the airport where people hoping to come to Britain were being processed. A second bomb exploded near the Baron hotel, which was being used by British diplomats until the day before.

Following a warning of a likely attack, western soldiers were repositioned outside the airport, the British officer said. He added: “If you’d looked at where our forces were laid out, 24 hours earlier, they’d have been far more exposed.”

A thousand British paratroopers joined more than 5,000 US troops and others to help secure Kabul airport for a fortnight to allow the emergency airlift of more than 114,000 westerners and Afghans at risk from the Taliban following the unexpectedly rapid fall of the Afghan capital in the middle of August.

The commander officer on the ground, Brig James Martin, said the soldiers, some as young as 18, had to contend with a series of “traumatic scenes” during the chaotic evacuation, where thousands of desperate Afghans converged on the airport, not all of whom were eligible to get on a flight to the west.

Martin said troops witnessed “dead women, dead children, people being crushed to death” outside the Abbey Gates and Baron hotel in an environment over which the soldiers felt they had very little control.

“The overriding situation was very difficult to influence,” he said.

Middleton said it was also “in practice, quite difficult” for British soldiers to have to turn people away, particularly in the case of Afghans who thought they had a right to come to the UK but were not going to be accepted. “My soldiers ended up sort of enacting some of those decisions, having to turn people away essentially,” he said.

Following what they had witnessed, Middleton said the troops were engaged in decompression after returning to the UK, involving a series of “relatively light-hearted lectures and guest speakers” advising the young troops “how important it is to sort of share your feelings and open up”.

Troops were being put in smaller groups, with their team-mates, the officer said, to use that as a place to raise any issues “in the first instance”, because “the last thing we’d like to do is someone to get away having a load of emotion suppressed”.

Thousands of Afghans who were potentially eligible to come to Britain were not able to be airlifted out in time, while thousands more were unable to prove their eligibility, many of whom nevertheless gathered outside the Abbey Gate and Baron hotel in the hope of being called for evacuation. Twenty people were killed in crushes during the airlift.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
×