BRITAIN TO SEND MORE TROOPS TO AFGHANISTAN

by Phil Hazlewood

July 10, 2006

LONDON (AFP) - Britain said it will send nearly 900 more troops to southern Afghanistan between now and October to grapple with Taliban insurgents, bringing its total deployment in the area to 4,400.

In a statement to parliament, Defence Secretary Des Browne added that more support helicopters would be sent to the troubled region, together with a radar installation.

British forces in southern Afghanistan are concentrated in restive Helmand province, where six soldiers have died in Taliban-related combat in the past month.

The extra troops will be drawn from the Royal Marines, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, the Royal Irish Regiment and the Royal Engineers -- with the latter to "accelerate the reconstruction effort".

Senior military personnel, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a force of about 150 men from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers -- currently on standby in Cyprus -- would be sent in the next couple days.

Two platoons -- about 60 soldiers -- from the Royal Irish Regiment would follow in the coming weeks. A 300-strong Royal Engineers contingent will support British government-backed aid and reconstruction work.

The other personnel would be made up of headquarters staff, intelligence, logistics, medics and air support teams plus a 40-strong group from 45 Commando to help train the Afghan army.

One commander insisted that the six fatalities did not prompt the decision to send extra troops, instead explaining that it was part of a continual reassessment of capacity on the ground.

"No plan survives first contact with the enemy," said another.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday that Britain's mission to bring security to southern Afghanistan was going to be tough because troops were deploying in a particularly restive region for the first time.

"This has always been a tough task," Blair -- who three years ago sent a much larger British to invade Iraq alongside the United States -- told reporters at his Downing Street residence.

"People have always understood that it's going to be dangerous and difficult for a very simple reason that for the first time we are going into the south of Afghanistan where the Taliban and the terrorists are trying to get a foothold back there," he said.

"It is absolutely essential that we, along with all the other countries who are working with us, fight to make sure that the reconstruction process that the people of Afghanistan want to see is actually delivered because if it is delivered then that has an impact on their country and our security."

In Kabul, the UN special representative in Afghanistan, Tom Koenigs, called the British move "excellent news".

"That is exactly what we need. We need from the Brits, from Italians and from all the other contributors and even from those who do not contribute," Koenigs said. "That gives a clear message to Taliban that they will not win."

News of the reinforcements came after Browne admitted in an interview Saturday that the British presence in Helmand had "energised" the Taliban, the hardline former rulers of Afghanistan ousted by US-led forces in 2001.

But he defended Britain's role there, despite the recent military fatalities, saying it was vital for security in Afghanistan and to prevent the resurgence of Al-Qaeda-linked groups.

Britain is due to head a NATO-led force in Helmand from the end of July, taking over control of security from the US military.

The mission aims to rid the area of Taliban violence, rebuild the economy and replace widespread opium farming with alternative livelihoods.

Britain currently deploys 3,300 troops in Helmand plus 200 in neighbouring Kandahar province, according to the military sources. Another 1,000 are posted in the capital Kabul.

They are involved with Afghan, Canadian and US soldiers in a major anti-Taliban operation, Mountain Thrust, that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of militants since it was launched mid-May.

Two soldiers from foreign forces -- a Canadian and a Peruvian serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) -- have been killed in Afghanistan in recent days.

More than 50 foreign soldiers, most of them Americans, have been killed by the upsurge in Taliban violence this year.