UK and Poland reject Hegseth's remarks on NATO allies' role in Afghanistan

Downing Street said on Monday 19 October that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was wrong to play down the part NATO allies played in combat in Afghanistan.

In a speech at the University of Tennessee at the weekend, Mr Hegseth, who served in Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard, said there were “50 flags” at the coalition headquarters in Kabul, Politico Europe and The Guardian reported. “Except there were maybe five that contributed. It was actually closer to one or two that by the end were actually involved in kinetic operations,” he said, adding that troops joked the ISAF patch meant “I Saw Americans Fighting”.

Asked about the remarks, the official spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said “more than 450 British personnel never returned” and that allied forces had served “in response to an attack on our ally”. “It is wrong to diminish their role,” he said.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski wrote on X on Sunday: “Tell that, Mr @SecWar, to the families of 44 Polish soldiers who died securing the tough Ghazni province.” (post, 11:08am GMT Sunday)

NATO invoked Article 5, its collective-defence clause, for the only time on 12 September 2001, and all of its then 28 members took part in the Afghanistan mission, Politico Europe reported. Personnel from more than 30 countries died there, including 457 from the UK, while almost 2,500 US service members were killed, The Guardian reported.

Asked about reports of a proposed US-Russia-China summit on Ukraine, the No 10 spokesperson said it was “a matter for those countries, and obviously for Ukraine to speak for itself”, adding that UK support for Ukraine was “unwavering”.

See also: Hegseth says Iran must choose between a deal and “devastation”.