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The tearful pop star was ridiculed for telling migrant boy Shamsher Sherin she was sorry “we put you in the hands of the Taliban”, while volunteering for a charity in the Calais Jungle last week. But it turns out Shamsher’s father fought with the Islamist Mujahideen in Afghanistan and only fled the country because he feared the UK-backed Afghan Northern Alliance.

GETTY Lily Allen burst into tears while talking to 13-year-old migrant Shamsher Sherin

Hazrat Gul Sherin came to Britain on the back of a lorry and was handed benefits and a job on a construction site. Before he fled Afghanistan in 2005, Sherin was a staunch supporter of Sunni warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who led militia group Hezb-e Islami, and was dubbed the “Butcher of Kabul” for the campaign of death and destruction he waged to gain control of Afghanistan's capital in the 1990s.

BBC Lily Allen cried as she apologised to the boy for placing him in the hands of the Taliban

I was not escaping the Taliban. I had been a commander for Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and the Hezb-e Islami for many years and was put in charge of the village of Shershia in Jalalabad Hazrat Gul Sherin, migrant boy's father

Despite supporting the leader, known for executing intellectuals and attacking women with acid, Hazrat was allowed to stay in the UK after sneaking into the country. He went on to claim benefits for seven years while living in Birmingham until 2012, when his application for asylum was granted and he began working on building sites. Sherin then returned to Afghanistan for two three-month holidays, despite having claimed that he feared for his life there. He told The Mail on Sunday: "I was not escaping the Taliban. I had been a commander for Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and the Hezb-e Islami for many years and was put in charge of the village of Shershia in Jalalabad.

GETTY Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was a notorious warlord in the 1990s

"I had a profile then. Everyone was scared and could not say anything but when the western-backed government took over from them, the villagers realised I had no power and turned on me and our house was shot at. We fled over the border to Nasar Bagh in Pakistan but somebody snitched on me and a bomb was planted at the local mosque intended to kill me. "I was injured in the blast and have three bits of metal in my body still. We had to move again to Tira and it was then I knew I had to escape to build a better future for my family. "My father had some money and sold land and I used that to make my way to Britain. I did not know anyone there but I heard they had the best human rights in Europe. It was very hard to leave. My wife Noorbabo had just had our fourth baby but I had no choice if I was to look after their future." Sherin, who is now 49, said that he first became involved with the Butcher of Kabul at 15 when he joined the Mujahideen fighting the Soviet occupation. WHAT IS THE CALAIS JUNGLE?

BBC Lily Allen took a break from recording her next album to visit the Calais Jungle