Armed forces minister slams Trump’s false Nato comments as ‘utterly ridiculous’

Armed forces minister and former Marine Al Carns has slammed Donald Trump's false suggestion that Nato troops stayed away from the front lines in Afghanistan. Mr Carns, who served and led during four tours in Afghanistan and was awarded the Military Cross in 2011, branded the US president's claim "utterly ridiculous." "Alongside my American colleagues, we shed blood, sweat, and tears together, and not everybody came home,” he added. Mr Carns also invited whoever believes Mr Trump's claims to meet him and some of the bereaved families of the more than 400 British personnel who died in Afghanistan. Around 1,061 non-American Nato troops died in the conflict that began in 2001, according to Help for Heroes. More than 2,300 members of the US armed forces were killed.