A FORMER Marine has issued a desperate plea for help as he and his team anxiously await evacuation from Kabul airport with 173 animals.

Paul ‘Pen’ Farthing, from Dovercourt, appealed directly to the Taliban to help facilitate their safe passage out of Afghanistan.

Having founded animal rescue charity Nowzad 15 years ago, the British expat said he wouldn’t leave Afghanistan without his staff and animals when the Taliban took over control of the country.

Taking on Twitter, he appealed directly to the Taliban’s spokesman, saying: “Dear Sir; my team and my animals are stuck at airport circle. We have a flight waiting. Can you please facilitate safe passage into the airport for our convoy?

“Suhail Shaheen, we are an NGO who will come back to Afghanistan but right now I want to get everyone out safely.”

In a separate tweet, he added: “We have been here for ten hours after being assured that we would have safe passage. Truly would like to go home now. Let’s prove the IEA are taking a different path.”

Mr Farthing and his team made it to the airport after a daring midnight journey, having received notice from the UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace they could board a privately chartered plane back to Britain.

The Airbus A330 was funded by supporters of the ex-Marine’s mission, dubbed Operation Ark, and had been on standby to fly to Kabul to rescue the group’s workers and animals.

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Mr Wallace had previously insisted the animals would have to wait behind as the UK couldn’t prioritise “pets over people.”

However, in a series of tweets on Tuesday, Mr Wallace said if Mr Farthing arrived at the airport with his staff and animals, officials would seek to facilitate their departure aboard the chartered aircraft.

To add to an already tense situation, Armed Forces minister James Heappey said Kabul is facing an “imminent” ISIS terror threat, with people told to flee the airport.

Mr Heappey told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there was “very credible reporting” of a “severe” attack by ISIS-K, the sworn enemy of the Taliban who want to derail the new regime.

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Alongside Britain, the US and Australia had already told their citizens to flee the airport over the terror threat, with officials on red alert for a multiple car bomb attack.

Fears of a deadly attack is heaping extra pressure on the operation to leave with as many stranded people as possible.

Troops from Colchester’s 16 Air Assault Brigade, who has been facilitating the mass exodus, are also due to leave the country in the coming days before the Tuesday deadline.