Dogs face slaughter after being abandoned to Taliban as troops flee Afghanistan – World News

‘Heartbroken’ Kabul Small Animal Rescue claims it has had to leave dogs it was trying to help flee from Afghanistan at the capital’s airport after attempts to evacuate them failed

Hundreds of dogs are stranded at Kabul’s airport after a rescue operation was unable to evacuate them before the deadline for US troops to withdraw.

Animal rights campaigners are still hoping dozens of dogs, cats and shelter workers will be able to flee on a mercy flight after the August 31 deadline came and went without successful rescue.

A desperate operation was launched to get Kabul Small Animal Rescue’s (KSAR) cargo of the country as the deadline for foreign armed forces to leave the country loomed.

But the campaign claims the dog were left abandoned at the airport to become ‘homeless strays’ after they were barred access to evacuation flights.

There are fears for the safety of the animals as reports claim the Taliban will not allow people to keep pets, and a British ex-marine claims a member of the hardline group stabbed one of the dogs he was rescuing.

KSAR boss Charlotte Maxwell-Jones, who has been trying to evacuate around 250 animals and 40 workers out of Afghanistan, is said to have remained in the country after refusing to leave without them.

KSAR said it had been trying to find its own aircraft to carry out the mission, but required US military support to help the operation leave the airport.

‘Operation Hercules’ campaign supporters lobbied the US Government in a bid to get remaining forces to help KSAR staff and animals to safety.

Reports claimed the dogs did make it to the airport but had been unable to fly out, despite efforts to secure private planes.

An update from SPCA International (SPCAI) told supporters Ms Maxwell-Jones was forced to leave the airport with one puppy under her arm on August 30 as the final evacuations took place.

The group said rescue attempts are continuing and she is in a ‘safe’ place outside of Kabul.

The groups have claimed KSAR was forced to leave the dogs taken to the airport there, as they were not allowed aboard the final military flights, and private aircraft were not granted access.

SPCAIc laims most of the KSAR dogs subequently had to be released into the airport on August 30 as it was evacuated – “turning once-rescued shelter dogs into homeless strays.”

KSAR hoped to return to the airport when it is safe to rescue the released dogs, and it begged departing US military to open bags of dog food Ms Maxwell-Jones had brought to the airportin hopes assuring the pooches’ survival.

The airport had been the scene of deadly bloodshed in the past week as people made last-ditch attempts to flee Taliban rule.

A suicide bombing targeted at evacuees and foreign troops waiting outside the airport gate killed scores of people and wounded many more.

US and UK forces continued to whisk scores of foreign nationals, Afghan refugees, and troops out of the country before the deadline.

But they warned not everyone would be able to be evacuated on time as the deadline drew closer.

Controversy erupted over Brit ex-marine Pen Farthing’s mission to fly rescue animals from Kabul back to the UK.

Critics said stretched resources should have been concentrated on human evacuees instead.

He made it safely home with the animals, claiming one of his dogs was stabbed by the Taliban during his mission.

But Mr Farthing said he felt ‘no joy, only guilt’ at having to leave workers behind – adding he was still trying to help them flee.

The Pentagon was also forced to deny reports it abandoned service dogs as troops left Afghanistan after images of dogs in crates at the airport emerged in recent days.

Viral reports and images claiming the dogs were military canines left behind to face Taliban slaughter were rejected by the authorities, the US media reports.

Eric Pahon, a spokesman for the Defense Department told reporters the photos were of the KSAR dogs at the airport, not service animals.

Responding to reports the military abandoned the dogs, he added: “Despite an ongoing complicated and dangerous retrograde mission, US forces went to great lengths to assist the Kabul Small Animal Rescue as much as possible.”

Lori Kalef, Director of Programs at SPCA International, thanked campaign supporters and said rescuers were devastated that dogs had to be left at the airport.

“We are heartbroken that the aircraft we secured to transport the rescued dogs of Kabul Small Animal Rescue out of Afghanistan were not ultimately allowed to take the animals and their caretakers safely out of the country.

“Our team has been working around the clock and has exhausted every possible option and resource we could in our mission to rescue the dogs before the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“We’ll continue to do everything we can to evacuate Kabul Small Animal Rescue’s staff and animals from the country after August 31.”