Taliban stop British veteran who wants to evacuate 200 animals | Abroad

Farthing writes on Twitter that he, his team and his animals are stuck in the vicinity of the airport. He claims that he has been promised safe passage and asks the Taliban to let him through. He promises to come back to Afghanistan but now says he wants to get his people out of the country first.

Crowdfunding

The veteran managed to fund a flight through a crowdfunding campaign to fly his staff and their families, as well as the animals, out of Afghanistan. Farthing has been criticized for appearing to value animals more than the many desperate people currently trying to flee the Taliban regime. Also, Farthing’s plane would only get in the way at the airport.

The British Ministry of Defense later said that if Farthing and his team were able to reach the airport, a place would be arranged for his flight. The veteran offered to carry the animals in the hold so that Afghan evacuees could also board the 250-seat plane. Farthing was also allowed to fly over with his staff in a British Air Force aircraft, but then his animals could not come along.

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