Mother of Doncaster war hero left 'angered' by the ongoing developments in Afghanistan

Diane Dernie now feels like her son's sacrifice has been 'for nothing'

Author: Chris Davis-SmithPublished 17th Aug 2021

A Doncaster woman's been left wondering what her son's sacrifice in Afghanistan was all for- after the Taliban managed to re-capture the country's capital city on Sunday.

Army veteran Ben Parkinson suffered life changing injuries back in 2006 whilst fighting in Afghanistan.

Now Ben's mum-Diane Dernie-says she feels 'betrayed' by the withdrawal of Western troops there:

"For our family this is really difficult to understand.

"How can something that was so important 20 years ago become so utterly unimportant now?

"We're astounded by how upset we are, but what we weren't prepared for is how hard it has hit us all.

"Ben's sacrifice feels like it was for nothing. It wasn't necessary and has achieved nothing."

Meanwhile, Arif Sahar's a researcher in International Security and Terrorism at Sheffield Hallam University.

He says he still has family members out there who are 'fearful for their lives':

"The people there are in a state of shock, anger and anxiety.

They're quite literally going through a nervous breakdown, as they don't really understand what's going to happen to them, or how their lives will be impacted by the complexities of these events."

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