Some British military veterans from the Afghan War have taken their own lives because they are so devastated by the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. - led forces from the country and the victory of the Taliban, Britain's armed forces minister said on Monday.
After a 20-year war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives and at least a trillion dollars in the Taliban control has dismayed veterans.
The UK has lost 457 military personnel in Afghanistan, or 13 percent of the international military coalition's 3,500 deaths since 2001.
There have been soldiers in Afghanistan, indeed one who served on my last tour in Afghanistan, who have taken their own lives in the last week or so because of the feelings they have had over what's happening in Afghanistan, said James Heappey, a junior defence minister.
That is hugely upsetting and concerning, Heappey, who served in the British army in Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and Iraq, told Sky News. What makes me sick to the bottom of my stomach? Heappey, who reached Major before entering politics, said he was hearing the Taliban control of the entire of Afghanistan but that the situation in Panjshir did not change the big picture.
Britain fears the Taliban's return and the vacuum left by the West's chaotic withdrawal will allow militants from al Qaeda to gain a foothold in Afghanistan, just 20 years after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States of America. Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Guy Faulconbridge.