SAS Troops Trick The Taliban And Escape Afghanistan By Wearing Burqas
Published 22:28, 05 September 2021 BST
British troops trying to get out of Afghanistan have used an elaborate idea to travel hundreds of kilometres to Kabul to escape the country.
Up to 20 SAS soldiers were in the country's south when the Taliban took control of the capital's Presidential Palace.
Realising time was against them, they knew they would have to race to Kabul to try and hop on an evacuation flight.
So, they bought five taxis and were given burqas from Afghan counter-terrorist police to disguise themselves as they set off on their daring mission.
A source from the SAS unit told The Daily Star: "The SAS team had been in Afghanistan for months and had been on a secret reconnaissance mission when everything went belly-up.
"They were told to abort the ­operation and to get ready for an immediate extraction to Kabul.
"The troops ditched most of their equipment except for their weapons and ammo and covered themselves with the burqas.
"Every time they came to a road block an Afghan special forces soldier explained that the women were very devout and wanted to welcome the Taliban back into Afghanistan. It worked.
"There were a few dicey ­moments but even the Taliban were reluctant to remove a burqa from a woman."
Not only were they wearing burqas, but they were also waving Taliban flags and said they wanted to go to Kabul to welcome their 'heroic liberators' to trick Taliban fighters at the checkpoints.
It wasn't until they had made their way to the gate of Kabul's airport when they alerted the guards to who they were.
The American soldier guarding the entrance was 'dumbstruck' when they heard a stern, British voice coming from the person wearing the burqa.
They were eventually permitted to enter the air base and were ushered into a room so that they could speak with British officials back home.
The group was asked if they needed anything and their reply was so quintessentially British: 'a cup of tea'.
When asked about the report, the Ministry of Defence said it didn't comment on operations matters.
Featured Image Credit: PA
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