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UK troops put under US command in Helmand

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, May 22, IRNA -- Around 8,000 British troops in Helmand are being put under US command in a major restructuring plan following the dispatch of some 20,000 American reinforcements to the volatile province in southern Afghanistan.

Under the arrangements announced by Britain’s Ministry of Defence, the existing Regional Command (South) will be split during the summer into two new headquarters based in Helmand and Kandahar.

A new Regional Command (South West), which also includes Nimruz province, is to based in Helmand with Major-General Richard Mills of the US Marine Corps taking charge of the first rotation.

It was said to have been agreed in principle the rotational command in splitting the area will be shared between the US and UK forces.

Under the UK’s reduced role, the 1,100-strong British battle group based in Sangin, scene of some of the bloodiest fighting, and Kajaki is also being transferred to a US-led force from June 1.

The existing Regional Command (South), headquartered in Kandahar, is under the command of British Major General Nick Carter, but who is also expected to be replaced by a US commander when he leaves his post in November.

The announcement of Britain’s diminished role comes as Foreign Secretary William Hague, Defence Secretary Liam Fox and International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell are leading the first delegation to Afghanistan made by the UK’s new government.

The UK government was said to be hoping to speed up the withdrawal of thousands of British troops from the war-torn country after ruling out the transfer of forces from Helmand to neighbouring Kandahar.

The ministers are conducting a series of meetings with senior Afghan politicians including President Hamid Karzai and are also holding talks with the US commander of the international forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, and other military chiefs.

"We are taking stock as a new government, we want to see how things are working, we want to hear the military advice, we want to talk to the Afghan government themselves, we want to discuss the detail with the United States," Hague said.

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End News / IRNA / News Code 1130017