A former soldier who developed PTSD from his Afghanistan tour feels the lives lost during the conflict were a "waste".
Dan Jones, from Colchester, served in Kabul - where chaotic scenes have unfolded in the two days since the Taliban's lightning-fast military operation seized the capital.
Between 2007-2008, Dan served with the Coldstream Guards, who provided local Afghans with vital humanitarian support.
The horrific memories of a suicide explosion towards the end of his tour haunted Dan on his return and he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in 2017.
The 34-year-old was shaken to the core by the Taliban's rapid taking of Kabul on Sunday, Essex Live reports, following a two-decade campaign from the allied forces to keep them away from power.
Dan, who lost friends in the conflict, said he can't help but feel it was all a "waste".
"The Taliban at the time weren't really seen within the capital country, so it's a surprise for it to be taken," Dan said.
"What they have done in 72 hours, it's gobsmacking."
The explosion Dan witnessed in 2008 seriously wounded several Afghan citizens and American soldiers and he remembers hearing the blast and being told to investigate what happened.
They rushed to the scene and saw the aftermath laying before them.
The dad-of-two was diagnosed with the condition following several sleepless nights and nightmares that would jolt him out of bed, screaming and shouting in a pool of sweat.
"We had it quite sturdy the whole tour until the end when there was a suicide-terrorist explosion on an emergency vehicle," he said.
"A lot of people were injured and hurt and a few people lost their lives at the time. Watching it back on TV now and seeing where we walked across, it does trigger a lot of memories."
"I remember waiting to go on a flight across Afghanistan and thinking am I going to make it back alive?" he added.
"You get over there and the heat hits you like a wall, there's nothing like it and the smell is like walking into a sewage works.
"Walking outside over where you are in Kabul you have to worry about land mines, every step you take you have no idea what's going to happen.
Dan said that several former soldiers he knows feel the Afghanistan situation is especially painful. Many of them lost limbs during the conflict - and their friends.
"The first I saw of anything was of the people flying off the plane," he said.
"I was at work all day yesterday [Monday] and I went on my phone at 5.30pm and saw what was going on.
"I didn't sleep last night. I was up and worrying about what the future holds for our children or what it is going to trigger.
"We just don't know what is going to happen. I have spoken to so many people in the last 24 hours about it with close friends and it has brought back so many memories and triggering so many of the PTSD.
"That's the scary part, it's the unknown."
Afghan translators and soldiers worked closely with UK troops while on deployment.
Seeing the Afghans who risked their lives to support the British mission caught up in this week's chaos is a "horrible feeling", Dan said.
"It's hard to grasp it all," he said. "All you want to do is get them and bring them back to a safe place.
"It just feels like they have been let down more than anything."
His regiment returned to Afghanistan in 2010, but Dan was unable to join them. One of his commanders was tragically killed during the deployment.
"It's upsetting, especially when you have close friends who have died." he said.
"You can't put your finger on it, you want to solve it yourself but you can't solve it.
"One guy, he was my commander in Kabul and I spent a lot of time with him. He took me under his wing and I built such a friendship with him. When you lose someone really close to you at the time, you find it hard."
Dan added: "At the moment, it's just a waste that's the be all end of it all.
"Every soldier you speak to or look at social media, they will all tell you it's been a waste. I can't think of anybody who would not think it's a waste."
