‘I lost my leg and arm on the front line in Afghanistan – here’s why Trump is wrong about British troops’

A British military veteran who lost two limbs serving on the front line in Afghanistan said his injuries are proof that Donald Trump is wrong about the role of Nato forces in the war.

In widely condemned comments overnight, the US president falsely claimed that UK troops had stayed away from the front line during the conflict and reiterated his suggestion that Nato would not support America if asked.

Former Royal Marine Commando Ben McBean, 38, from Plymouth, suffered life-changing injuries from an IED explosion in Afghanistan in 2008. A member of 40 Commando, Mr McBean was stationed at Camp Bastion and was deployed around Kajaki, a village in the south of the country.

He lost his left arm, and his right leg was amputated above his knee following the blast. Those injuries, and the impact they have had on his life, show that Mr Trump is wrong and that British soldiers faced the consequences of being on the front line, he said.

He told The Independent: “I’m only like this because I was on the front line. I’ve got two kids now, I can’t do sports day with them, I can’t do certain things that I’d like to do with them.

“I can’t be the man that I want to be because of my injuries. I’ve got to keep my mental health in check.”

He added: “What he [Trump] said is not true, and it’s out of order, when I know exactly what we were doing out there. It’s really insulting.”

It comes after the US president told Fox News on Thursday: “We’ve never needed them [Nato]. They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan … and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”

His comments have been condemned by Sir Keir Starmer, who accused him of “diminishing” Britain’s war dead and defence minister Al Carns, who described them as “utterly ridiculous”. He invited whoever believes them to meet veterans like himself and some of the bereaved families of the more than 400 British personnel who died in Afghanistan.

Mr McBean continued: “When I got to Kajaki, you were on the front line, you slept with your weapons, you had sentries 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is no back line, or off the front line.

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“Every day we rotated, just fighting. That’s all I did – I’d fight, I’d get back, clean my weapon, eat some food, sleep and then you would go again. I did that for four and a half months before I got blown up.”

Mr McBean was aged 20 when he suffered his injuries as he and his colleagues from 40 Commando worked to clear a compound in Kajaki.

“We were about to go and do that, and then on the way over, a bomb went off”, he said.

“I didn’t pass out, so I just hit the deck and looked down – my right leg was gone.

“My left leg was ripped up, my kneecap was hanging off, I had pieces of metal sticking out of my body, my right arm had a hole in it, my left arm was hanging off. I was crawling around a crater, and then eventually I got rescued.

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“That was it, two of my friends also got hurt. One of them ended up taking their own life. So, yes, we were on the front line.”

He added: “Everyone knows that he’s [Trump] wrong, but it’s annoying to hear him say it. He’s got such a big platform that there will be people out there who think he’s right. Millions see it, that is what’s frustrating.”

More than 1,100 non-US coalition fighters died in the conflict that began in 2001, according to veteran charity Help for Heroes, the overwhelming majority of them being from NATO countries, while more than 2,300 members of the US armed forces were killed.

The president’s comments have sparked condemnation from across the British political spectrum, as well as from families of those who died in the war.

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Sir Keir’s spokesperson hit back at the comments on Friday, saying: “Many hundreds suffered life-changing injuries from their service alongside the US and our allies in Afghanistan. Their sacrifice and that of other Nato forces was made in the service of 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.”

Defence secretary John Healey said: “Nato’s Article 5 has only been triggered once. The UK and Nato allies answered the US call. And more than 450 British personnel lost their lives in Afghanistan.

“Those British troops should be remembered for who they were: heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Donald Trump’s comments about Nato troops staying away from the front line in Afghanistan were “nonsense”.

She said: “Trump saying Nato allies ‘weren’t on the front line’ in Afghanistan is flat-out nonsense.

“British, Canadian, and Nato troops fought and died alongside the US for 20 years. This is a fact, not opinion. Their sacrifice deserves respect, not denigration.”