Cameron pledges to investigate Afghan special forces persecuted by the Taliban

The Foreign Secretary has pledged to look into helping members of the Afghan special forces who were denied resettlement in the UK and are at risk of being tortured or killed by the Taliban.

About 100 applicants from Afghan special forces units known as The Triples had their applications rejected.

Lord Cameron was told how many of these former operators have been persecuted following the resurgence of the Taliban, with some being murdered.

He said he would look specifically at cases involving soldiers from Afghan Territorial Force 444 and Commando Force 333 to see what "we can do to help".

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The units are believed to have been set up, trained and funded by British forces, but fell under the control of the Afghan security forces, reporting to the Afghan Ministry of the Interior.

The issue of The Triples was raised in a written question from shadow defence secretary John Healey.

But Armed Forces Minister James Heappey replied: "Not all members of the Afghan armed forces, including specific units such as AF 444 and CF 333, will automatically be eligible for ARAP [Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy] .

"Each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis on its own merits, however, we are prioritising finding remaining eligible applicants and relocating them as quickly as we can."

An investigation by The Independent, Lighthouse Reports and Sky News found that dozens of personnel who served with The Triples have been beaten, tortured or killed by the Taliban since the withdrawal of Nato forces.

The Independent reported 24 cases, including one of a man who was shot in the head as he went to buy groceries and another who was tortured so badly that he said it would have been better if he had been killed. 

Sky News reported how another member of The Triples, who now lives in Birmingham, had a brother who was killed after being turned away at Kabul airport.

He said his brother "did a lot of hard work for the British" but when he was kicked out of the airport, he became a target for the Taliban.