Downing Street Hits Back At Pete Hegseth For Downplaying Nato's Role In Afghanistan War

Downing Street has hit back at Pete Hegseth after he tried to downplay the role Nato played in the Afghanistan war.

The US defence secretary suggested that “maybe five” countries other than America contributed to the mission, with just “one or two” actually fighting.

More than 1,100 non-US service personnel lost their lives in the war, including 457 from the UK.

But speaking to US army cadets, Hegseth said: “I was a captain in Afghanistan and we would go to the headquarters in Kabul and there would be 50 flags at the headquarters.

“It was a beautiful thing to see, 50 different countries contributing to the Nato alliance and the [International Security Assistance Force] mission there. 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.

“In fact the patch ‘ISAF’ we joked it meant ‘I Saw Americans Fighting’.”

The war began in 2001 in response to the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11 that year.

Asked for the prime minister’s response to Hegseth’s remarks, his spokesman said: “Frankly, the facts speak for themselves when it comes to the UK’s and Nato’s contribution to Afghanistan.

“Thousands of British and allied families made huge sacrifices to play their significant part in that war and uphold our values.

“More than 450 British personnel never returned, and their sacrifice and that of other Nato forces, was made in the service if collective security and in response to an attack on our ally.

“We are incredibly proud of our armed forces and their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten. It is wrong to diminish their role.”

Donald Trump was forced to climb down at the start of this year after he also attempted to downplay Nato’s contribution to the war.

The US president falsely alleged that coalition troops had “stayed a little back” from the frontlines during the conflict.

Keir Starmer publicly urged Trump to apologise for his “insulting and frankly appalling” remarks.

Trump later posted on Truth Social: “The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America! In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors. It’s a bond too strong to ever be broken.”

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