UK PM urges Trump to apologise after his remarks about NATO troops

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged U.S. President Donald Trump to apologise for his false assertion that troops from NATO countries - other than Americans - stayed away from the front line during the war in Afghanistan.

Trump said that he wasn't sure NATO would be there to support the U.S. if and when requested, provoking outrage and distress among many in the U.K. - a country that is part of NATO.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not mince his words in responding to Trump's comments about being unsure if NATO would show up for the United States if and when requested.

He said: "Let me start by paying tribute to the 457 of our armed services who lost their lives in Afghanistan. I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice that they made for their country. There are many also who were injured, some with life changing injuries. And so I consider President Trump's remarks to be insulting and frankly, appalling. And I'm not surprised they've caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured. And in fact, across the country."

Starmer said nearly 150,000 British troops served in Afghanistan in the years after the U.S.-led 2001 invasion, the largest contingent after the American one.

Prince Harry weighed in to the furore too, saying the "sacrifices" of British soldiers during the war "deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect."

"Thousands of lives were changed forever," Harry said, who undertook two tours of duty in Afghanistan in the British Army and who lost friends there.

Reports said Prince Harry issued a statement, saying: "In 2001, Nato invoked Article 5 for the first-and only-time in history. It meant that every allied nation was obliged to stand with the United States in Afghanistan, in pursuit of our shared security. Allies answered that call."

Trump remarks were made during an interview with Fox News in Davos Thursday, saying of U.K. troops, "We've never needed them, we have never really asked anything of them. You know, they'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines."

Anger was further fuelled by the fact that the comments came from Trump who didn't serve in the Vietnam War at a time when he was eligible.