Hundreds of Afghan special forces soldiers and their family members will be brought to safety in Britain after ministers admitted that new evidence has confirmed they were paid by the UK.
Armed forces minister Luke Pollard has told the Commons that a Ministry of Defence review, sparked by campaigning MPs and a joint investigation by The Independent, has found that members of Afghan specialist units were directly employed by the UK government, despite previous denials.
Thousands of these soldiers, who fought side-by-side with British troops, had been denied relocation to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap). Conservative ministers had told parliament that these soldiers, known as the Triples, were not directly employed by the UK.
However, Mr Pollard confirmed on Monday that this was wrong. Around 2,000 applications by members of Afghan specialist units, who had previously been rejected for help, are being reviewed.
25 per cent of these are expected to have their decisions overturned, Mr Pollard said.
This is a breaking story and will be updated…