UK to send 600 troops to Kosovo next month
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, April 29, IRNA
UK-Kosovo
The British government is to send a battalion of 600 troops to Kosovo to help maintain public order in the newly independent state, Defense Secretary Des Browne announced Tuesday.
The soldiers, from 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, will be deployed to Kosovo from the end of May for one month to help NATO with peacekeeping activities, Browne told parliament.
The announcement comes after Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth confirmed on Monday that Britain, which is responsible for providing NATO's standby reserve force for the first six months of 2008, had received a request to supply troops.
"We made contingency plans some time ago, as we were aware of that commitment. Equipment was moved into theater some months ago so that it would be there, ready and waiting, if we were called on to supply the reserve," Ainsworth also revealed.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February in a move that had Western backing but was rejected by Serbia and its ally Russia.
The extra burden placed on Britain's already overstretched armed forces comes after Browne confirmed last week that planned cuts in the number of troops in Iraq from 4,000 to 2,500 are still on hold following a flare-up in violence in Basra.
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