Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Afghanistan: The stories of Scotland’s forgotten war

Post Thumbnail

It was dubbed the “Forever War” – the longest military campaign yet waged by our soldiers.

The war in Afghanistan was triggered by the horror of the September 11 terror attacks which felled the Twin Towers.

US-led coalition forces invaded the country targeting Osama Bin Laden – the architect of the atrocity – his al-Qaeda fighters and the Taliban who sheltered him.

A total of 39 Scots, including personnel from Tayside and Fife, Aberdeenshire, Moray and the Highlands lost their lives.

Many more were physically injured or bore the invisible psychological scars of their service.

Brave Scotsmen and women were always at the heart of the campaign which spanned 20 years – longer than World War One and Two combined.

It cost trillions of dollars and left a total of 457 British troops dead.

Our Impact investigations journalist Stephen Stewart went to Afghanistan as a war reporter in 2009 and was embedded with the Black Watch as they carried out airborne surgical strike operations against Taliban strongholds in the Afghan “heart of darkness”.

Stephen Stewart is a Scottish Journalist who reported on the Black Watch regiment
Stephen Stewart

His life was transformed by his assignment. He came home, joined the Army in 2011 and then deployed as a soldier with the Royal Regiment of Scotland to get the real inside story of life on the frontline for our troops in one of the most dangerous countries on the planet.

Now, he looks at the legacy of the bitter combat and how – as the last of the troops come home for the final time – many fear that the “Forever War” is in danger of becoming the forgotten war as the sacrifices made in the killing fields of Helmand and Kandahar are overlooked.

‘Huge debt of gratitude’

Boris Johnson told the UK Parliament on July 7  leaving the war-torn country was “fraught with risks”.

He spoke as the Taliban made speedy advances all across Afghanistan while British and US troops head home.

He said: “If you ask me whether I feel happy about the current situation in Afghanistan, of course I don’t. I’m apprehensive.”

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The majority of UK troops have now withdrawn from Afghanistan and Operation Toral is drawing to a close, in line with the Nato mission.

“The country owes a huge debt of gratitude to the 457 British personnel who lost their lives in Afghanistan, and to those who sustained life-changing injuries.”

3 SCOTS personnel, deployed on Operation Toral, departing Hamid Karzai International Airport to return to the UK. (MOD / Crown copyright)

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “Operation Toral is drawing to an end, but our enduring support for the Afghan Security Forces and Afghan Government has not.

“We owe a huge debt of gratitude to all those who have served in Afghanistan over the past 20 years, particularly those who lost their lives. Their efforts have helped prevent international terrorism and set the country on the path to peace. We hope the deal struck last year will form the basis for progress.

“We will now continue this important work as we transition to a new phase in Afghanistan.”


The Impact team

  • Words by Stephen Stewart
  • Design by Cheryl Livingstone
  • Graphics by Roddie Reid
  • Data visualisations by Lesley-Anne Kelly
  • Photographs, video and audio by Jason Hedges, Mhairi Edwards, Drew Farrell, Blair Dingwall and Morven McIntyre.