Over 1,300 attacks on UK troops in Afghanistan in past year
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, Oct 9, IRNA
UK Attacks-Afghanistan
British soldiers in Afghanistan have come under attack more than 1,300 times from enemy forces in the past year, according to the last government figures.
In a written reply to parliament, published Tuesday, Defence Secretary Des Browne revealed that there had been 1,359 attacks on British troops between October 2006 and August this year.
"Attacks levels will vary according to seasonal factors, planned enemy activity and the operational tempo of UK forces," Browne told MPs.
The list showed a fluctuation between 181 attacks carried out in March to 52 in April compared to a monthly average of 123, the equivalent of more than four a day.
Last week, platoon commander Major Alexis Roberts became the 82nd fatalities suffered by British forces, since the start of operations in Afghanistan six years ago. All but five have been killed since 2006.
A separate parliamentary statement issued by Defence Minister Derek Twigg showed that manpower the British Army was failing to keep pace with the number of soldiers leaving the service.
In the year to February 2007, the inflow of regular soldiers was just 4,030 compared with an outflow of 4,930 during the same period.
Previous reports have expressed concern and the retention of soldiers, largely due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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