London:
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday strongly condemned US President Donald Trump’s comments suggesting that NATO troops avoided frontline combat in Afghanistan, calling the remarks “insulting” and “appalling” as outrage mounted across Britain and Europe.
Trump’s remarks were made during an interview with Fox News, aired on Thursday, in which he appeared unaware of the scale of sacrifices made by allied forces — including the deaths of 457 British soldiers — during the two-decade-long Afghanistan conflict following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
“They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan,” Trump said, referring to NATO allies.
“And they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”
The comments sparked immediate anger across the British political spectrum, with critics accusing the US president of diminishing the sacrifices of allied soldiers.
Starmer Pays Tribute To Fallen British Soldiers
Responding in a video message, Starmer began by honouring British service members who lost their lives.
“Let me start by paying tribute to the 457 members of our armed forces who lost their lives in Afghanistan,” he said.
“Many more were injured, some with life-changing injuries. I consider President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling.”
Starmer added that the comments had caused deep hurt to the families of those killed or injured and said that had he made such remarks himself, he “would certainly apologise”.
NATO Allies Push Back
Trump also repeated his long-standing claim that NATO would not come to the aid of the United States if called upon — a statement contradicted by history. After the 9/11 attacks, NATO invoked Article 5, its collective defence clause, for the first and only time, leading several European nations to join the US-led campaign in Afghanistan.
Soldiers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Poland, and other NATO members were killed during the conflict.
Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz demanded respect for Polish veterans, noting that 43 Polish soldiers died in Afghanistan.
France’s Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin said 90 French soldiers were killed during NATO operations and stressed that their sacrifice “commands respect”.
UK Leaders, Veterans And Royal Family React
UK Defence Secretary John Healey described the fallen British troops as “heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation”, while Armed Forces Minister Al Carns, who served five tours in Afghanistan, labelled Trump’s comments “utterly ridiculous”.
Opposition Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch warned that such remarks were “complete nonsense” and risked weakening the NATO alliance.
Even Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK and a long-time Trump supporter, publicly rebuked the US president.
“Donald Trump is wrong,” Farage said. “For 20 years our armed forces fought bravely alongside America’s in Afghanistan.”
Families of fallen soldiers also expressed anguish. Lucy Aldridge, whose son William died aged 18 while serving in Afghanistan, said the remarks were “extremely upsetting”.
Mark Atkinson, Director General of veterans’ charity The Royal British Legion, said the service and sacrifice of British troops “cannot be called into question”.
Prince Harry Speaks Out
Prince Harry, who completed two frontline tours in Afghanistan with the Army Air Corps, also weighed in.
“I served there. I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there,” he said.
“Thousands of lives were changed forever. Those sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect.”
Scale Of UK Involvement
According to official figures, 405 of the 457 British soldiers who died were killed in hostile action. More than 150,000 UK armed forces personnel served in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021, making Britain the second-largest contributor to the US-led mission. The US lost over 2,400 troops during the war.