Tourist stranded in Afghanistan says he doesn’t regret it

A British student evacuated from Afghanistan says he doesn’t regret his ill-timed trip, but there’s one thing he wished he thought to pack.

A British student evacuated from Kabul says he has “no regrets” after being stranded in the city, having flown out to Afghanistan for a holiday.

The 21-year-old thrillseeker, Miles Routledge, claims to have travelled to the country four days ago, unaware of the rate at which the Taliban was advancing on the capital.

Posting his exploits in a series of attention-grabbing social media posts, Mr Routledge first caught the attention of internet messaging forums over the weekend by posing at landmarks for photos.

“Decided to pop down to Afghanistan for a few days,” he wrote under a selfie from the Bird Market in Kabul, shortly after his arrival in the country.

“Seems more peaceful than London to me.”

RELATED: Stunning footage inside Kabul airport

Miles Routledge claimed he became stranded in Afghanistan after visiting the country for a holiday.

The tourist held a ticket for a flight to Kabul on Friday, August 13. Picture: 4Chan

Sharing holiday photos to the messaging board 4Chan, the initial reaction was sceptical that the University of Loughborough student could be trapped in Afghanistan.

He produced copies of his entry visa and a Turkish Airlines ticket, dated Friday, August 13, as evidence.

Photos showing Mr Routledge in front of such landmarks as the tomb of the Afghan resistance fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud were later verified by fact-checking outlet Bellingcat in a report for Vice News.

RELATED: PM’s hard line stance on Afghan refugees

“I’ve bitten off more than I can chew and something has not gone to plan resulting in this situation,” Mr Routledge wrote on social media.

“There was no convincing me otherwise and I knew the risks, it was a gamble I took that went wrong.”

Miles Routledge claimed to be stranded in Kabul as the Taliban took control of the city.

Online messaging forums were sceptical of the tourist’s claims. Picture: 4Chan

He has since said he has been evacuated from Kabul, days after the Taliban took control of the city.

He is hardly the first Western tourist to have visited the country. Adventure tourists and attention seekers have been visiting the country since the early 2000s and the US invasion.

However the speed and extent of the collapse of the city had taken him by surprise.

He described the rapid change in the Afghan capital in the space of four days, as he witnessed a run on banks and families attempting to flee the city with their possessions.

“I’m struggling to stand and keep down water, I don’t think I’ll sleep tonight, I’ve seen too many dead people,” he told The Times on Monday.

“There was no convincing me otherwise and I knew the risks, it was a gamble I took that went wrong.”

“I still have no regrets but damn I wish I packed more socks.”

A fellow Loughborough University student condemned Mr Routledge’s rash decision to fly to Afghanistan but did not say it was out of character.

“This story is very much real and very much his style,” he wrote to internet forum Reddit.

“The guy is a proper sociopath, and a massive attention-seeker.”

This article originally appeared on the New Zealand Herald and was reproduced with permission