Parent of British soldier wants apology from Trump

The stepmother of a British soldier who was killed in Afghanistan says she wants a personal apology from Donald Trump for his claim that Nato troops avoided the front line.

Trump claimed that Nato sent "some troops" but "stayed a little back, a little off the front lines", sparking outrage which then saw the president later say the UK soldiers in Afghanistan were "among the greatest of all warriors".

Pte Gareth Bellingham, 22, from Stoke-on-Trent, died after being shot in June 2011, while on patrol in Helmand Province.

Kim Bellingham said: "I'd like to meet [Trump], I'd like to take him to Gareth's grave."

"Wise up, get better advisors, come and see the reality of the loss of a child in a conflict."

Some 457 UK armed forces personnel lost their lives in Afghanistan, a war which was led by the US in response to the 9/11 attacks.

"It was extremely hurtful and it's made me very angry," Kim Bellingham said.

She added that the British soldiers who went to Afghanistan "worked blooming hard" and said they all deserved an apology from the president.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called Trump's comments "insulting and appalling", while Prince Harry said Nato troops deserved respect.

Kim Bellingham's stepson was killed while clearing a mine area and she said: "He'd been called through because someone had been injured under fire, so he died very bravely.

"He was doing his job, he was trying to protect all of his other company."

To hear the suggestion he was not on the front line was "absolutely appalling", she said.

After making his remarks in an American TV broadcast and then speaking to the prime minister, Trump appeared to backtrack but stopped short of directly apologising for the words he used in the interview.

He wrote on social media: "The great and very brave soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America.

"In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors."

But Bellingham said the follow-up had been "absolutely too little too late".

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