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Prince William personally intervened to get an Afghan army officer and his family of 10 out of Kabul, report says

Sep 4, 2021, 16:27 IST
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Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, reportedly intervened to help get a friend from Sandhurst out of Afghanistan. Andrew Milligan - WPA Pool/Getty Images
  • Prince William personally intervened to get an Afghan officer out of Kabul, The Telegraph reported.
  • The royal knew the officer from his time at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the paper said.
  • The Afghan officer was able to flee to the United Kingdom with at least 10 members of his family.
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As thousands of desperate Afghans clamored to escape Taliban rule, one officer and his family were lucky enough to benefit from the help of a royal friend.

Reports say that Prince William made efforts to secure the safe passage of an Afghan soldier, who he knew from his time at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and his family of more than 10 people, according to The Telegraph.

The newspaper reported that the royal asked his equerry, naval officer Rob Dixon, to make some calls on his behalf. Dixon successfully contacted the officer, who reportedly served with the Afghan National Army, and spoke to the relevant personnel in Afghanistan, The Telegraph said.

As a consequence of these efforts, the media outlet reported that the officer and his family could board a flight out of Kabul.

Due to the officer's work with the British military, The Telegraph said that his relatives, many of whom were women, would have been vulnerable to persecution by the Taliban.

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According to the paper, commissioning officers and special forces working on the evacuation operation were among those who were aware of this personal intervention.

People who wanted to flee the country continue to wait around Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 24, 2021. Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

British troops left Kabul last week, marking an end to the United Kingdom's evacuation operation and its 20-year military involvement in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the evacuation effort as "heroic," even though his government conceded that some vulnerable Afghans who were eligible for evacuation were left behind.

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