Soldiers win legal battle to rescue Afghan interpreter

Abdul was turned away from evacuation flights last year and forced into hiding

A group of former British soldiers have won a legal battle to bring their Afghan interpreter to the UK.

The interpreter - who the BBC is calling Abdul - was forced to go into hiding when he was turned away from evacuation flights following the Taliban takeover.

He had failed to get national security clearance after being rejected for a job with the US armed forces.

Following a campaign by the Mercian Regiment veterans he can now move here.

Josh Roberts, Paul Standen, Sam Knight and Vance Bacon-Sharratt - from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire - said they spent months under fire together with Abdul in Helmand Province.

After international forces withdrew last year, the Taliban quickly regained control of the country.

Many Afghans who worked for British forces were resettled in the UK via the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme.

Josh Roberts, Paul Standen, Sam Knight and Vance Bacon-Sharratt

When Abdul's security clearance was rejected, the soldiers said it felt like they had "left a man behind".

They engaged a lawyer specialising in national security and prepared a case for judicial review.

Before it reached court, the Home Office agreed to review Abdul's situation, and ultimately decided he was not a security risk.

His visa has now been approved, and his family is being resettled here.

Mr Bacon-Sharratt said it was "amazing" and "unreal" they had been able to "work together to get this done".

He added: "We'd have done it for each other. We've all been through hard times and we all help each other - he's a brother, he's one of us."

Mr Knight said he was "Speechless really... lost for words. Just happy that it's all come together because there were a lot of doubts and moments when we though it wasn't going well."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "During Operation Pitting we evacuated 15,000 people from Kabul and we continue to do all we can to secure safe passage and enable British nationals and eligible Afghans to leave the country.

"While we cannot comment on individual ARAP applications, we have relocated 2,900 eligible Afghans since the fall of Kabul, which means over 9,400 individuals and their dependants have been relocated to the UK since the scheme began.

"We continue to progress applications as quickly as possible."