London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 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
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
×