UK not to further boost troop deployment in Afghanistan - report
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, Sept 27, IRNA
UK-Afghanistan
Defence chiefs have decided against transferring the 4,100 UK troops currently stationed in Iraq to Afghanistan when the mission in Basra comes to an end in the second half of next year, it was reported Saturday.
"There is no intention by the UK to transfer the forces it is aspiring to withdraw from Iraq to the Afghanistan theater," a senior defence source told the Financial Times. He added that the figure of 8,000 for the Helmand deployment should now be regarded as a ceiling.
In recent months there has been repeated speculation that the UK was seeking to boost its deployment in Afghanistan because of the continuing strength of the Taliban insurgency and the need to contain heroin production.
Earlier this week, commander of UK forces in Afghanistan Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith told Sky News that he wanted another 4,000 troops, saying he could "certainly" find enough tasks for another brigade in Helmand.
But the Financial Times suggested that Britain was unable to sustain the continued deployment of the troops currently based in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Our desire is to get back into balance and stay in balance and not to invest elsewhere," the defence source told the daily, adding that the return of the forces in Iraq would bring the UK back into line on how many expeditions Britain could mount at any one time.
"We have already mortgaged the dividend with the increase we have made," the source said, indicating that the withdraw from Iraq in 2009 had already been factored into recent increases in Afghanistan.
Plans instead were said to include the "transfer some equipment from Iraq to Afghanistan next year - such as helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles."
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
