Pen Farthing's animal rescue charter jet arrives at Kabul airport

28 August 2021, 14:56 | Updated: 28 August 2021, 15:21

Tugendhat reacts to Pen Farthing making it through Kabul with animals

Animal rescuer Pen Farthing's dog and cat rescue plane has touched down at Kabul airport where he is waiting to board with around 180 animals.

It is reported that British paratroopers have had to stay behind to help load the animals on board the plane.

There is said to be growing anger in Whitehall aimed at Mr Farthing with some accusing him of risking the safety of British service personnel and taking up valuable resource which could have led to more Afghans leaving the country.

Foreign Affairs Select Committee chair Tom Tugendhat told LBC today that he thought Mr Farthing's actions had risked lives.

He told Matt Frei: "We have just used a lot of troops to bring in 200 dogs. Meanwhile my interpreter's family are likely to be killed.

He said he was asked "why is my five-year-old worth less than a dog" and said he was unable to give an answer.

"What would you say if I sent an ambulance to save my dog instead of save your mother?"

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said too much of his senior commanders' time has been spent on Mr Farthing and his animals when speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC on Friday.

Former marine Mr Farthing has revealed how 'depressing' it was that he was forced to leave his Afghan staff behind.

He is due to fly on a charter flight from Kabul to Tashkent in Uzbekistan before returning to Britain.

His animals will be locked up when he arrives in the UK. The dogs and cats will face a four-month quarantine in kennels and catteries.

READ MORE: Final UK evacuation flight for Afghan nationals has left Kabul, MoD confirms

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Yesterday evening it was confirmed that him and the animals at the Nowzad charity would finally leave Afghanistan.

The ex-marine has tweeted about his difficulty in leaving the country, where he runs the shelter for 200 dogs and cats.

He travelled to Kabul airport recently, when he said he was present for the fatal attack which left three British nationals, 13 US troops and scores of Afghans dead.

Previously, he and the defence secretary Ben Wallace entered a war of words over who was to blame for Mr Farthing, his Nowzad staff and the animals being unable to get a flight out of Afghanistan.

Tweets from the Ministry of Defence said: "Pen Farthing and his pets were assisted through the system at Kabul airport by the UK Armed Forces. They are currently being supported while he awaits transportation.

"On the direction of the Defence Secretary, clearance for their charter flight has been sponsored by the UK Government."

Previously, Mr Farthing said he was "turned away" into the aftermath of the explosion at Kabul airport.

He posted an update on his plight writing: “The whole team & dogs/cats were safely 300m inside the airport perimeter. We were turned away as Joe Biden had changed paperwork rules just 2 hours earlier.

“Went through hell to get there & we were turned away into the chaos of those devastating explosions.”

He said he had been left feeling "numb" following the terror attack yesterday at the airport.

On Thursday, Mr Farthing said he had been stuck at the airport for 10 hours.