Afghan commando arrested at Manchester hotel
No reason given as to why member of Afghan special forces was detained
LONDON
Armed police in northern city of Manchester, England, have arrested an Afghan special forces commando at a hotel where he and his family had been quarantining after having arrived on an evacuation flight from Afghanistan, local media reported.
The raid, thought to have taken place in the early hours of Aug. 31 or Sept. 1, saw armed police detain the commando, according to Sky News.
No reason or statement has been released by the metropolitan police and it is unclear as to why he was arrested and detained.
Sky News reported that the commando arrived with his family in the UK on a British military evacuation and were housed in a hotel in Manchester under the current quarantine rules as Afghanistan is listed on the red list. His case, however, is not under the jurisdiction of the MI5, the UK’s top security agency.
The government has not yet released an official statement, however a spokesperson from No 10 said: "We don't comment on individual cases."
During its frenzied withdrawal from Afghanistan last month, the UK armed forces have evacuated more than 15,000 Afghan nationals as well as other UK citizens.
Under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, a total of 20,000 Afghans will be relocated to the UK over a period of five years. This number pales in comparison to the UK’s allies who have taken in well over 100,000. The government has been accused of abandoning those Afghans who supported UK forces in the two-decade war.
