UK cuts army training by 30% to save costs
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, March 15, IRNA -- Training exercises for UK military operation have been cut by a almost third to save money even though the country’s forces remain bogged down in the Afghan war, according to figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats.
A record 80 training exercises were found to have been cancelled last year, reducing the total number conducted to 462. This compares with 646 training exercises carried out in 2008, when 59 were cancelled.
The cuts even included in military units training to be deployed to Afghanistan within the next two years as part of the country’s roulement of troops.
Last week a coroner castigated the Ministry of Defence over “inadequate” mine detection training following the death of Cpl Sarah Bryant, the first British woman killed in Afghanistan, and three elite SAS soldiers.
The Lib Dem’s shadow defence minister Willie Rennie, who obtained the figures in a parliamentary answer, said it would be “deeply alarming” if vital exercises were cut “merely as a cost-saving measure”.
The additional financial cost of the Afghan war is forecast to rise to more than £5 billion ($7.5bn) in 2010-09, up from some £3.5 bn in the current year and nearly seven times more that the £738m cost in 2006-07.
The British government insisted that British troops are adequately trained and prepared before being sent to Afghanistan. None of the cuts were said to involve units in their final six months before their deployment.
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End News / IRNA / News Code 1014400
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