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British Forces In Afghanistan In Worst Fighting In 60 Years
Thu Aug 10, 9:58 PM ET

LONDON (AFP) - British soldiers in Afghanistan are involved in some of the worst and most prolonged fighting since World War II, the British commander of NATO forces in the country said.



"This sort of thing hasn't really happened so consistently, I don't think, since the Korean War (in 1952) or the Second World War (in 1939)," Lieutenant General David Richards told the BBC World Service.

"It happened for periods in the Falklands (in 1982), obviously, and it happened for short periods in the Gulf on both occasions (1991 and 2003). But this is persistent, low-level, dirty fighting."

He said some British troops would be withdrawn from parts of the southern province of Helmand to be replaced by soldiers from the Afghan Army.

Richards's comments came after news on Wednesday that another British soldier, Private Leigh Reeves, 25, was killed in Afghanistan, the 18th since November 2001 when the country's troops were deployed there.

Some 4,000 British troops are in the restive southern province of Helmand, with the figure set to rise to around 4,500. A further 1,000 are in Kabul, while a few hundred are in the southern city of Kandahar.

There are around 30,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, from 30 countries.

But in a report from Afghanistan, Britain's domestic Press Association cited an unnamed senior British source as saying that between 40,000 and 50,000 NATO forces would be needed to control Taliban militants in Helmand alone.

Despite being toppled from power five years ago by a US-led coalition, remnants of the hardline Taliban regime have stepped up a deadly insurgency targeting foreign troops as well as the Afghan government.

[bucheon bum]

too bad we diverted resources to iraq...

[The Hammer]

'Morale high' among UK troops

The British general heading Nato's force in southern Afghanistan says morale is high among his troops despite recent intense fighting.
Lt Gen David Richards has compared the intensity of warfare that British troops are facing to the Korean and Second World wars.

But he said his troops were confident about the task ahead.

"They are tired, but morale is very high. They know what we are trying to do, which is to get on the front foot."



We don't want to sit passively drawing the Taleban to us for the next three months
Lt Gen David Richards

"They need a bit of rest because some of them have been out there for over 40 days and almost nightly have come under attack. Some of the battles were going on for more than four or five hours and the intensity of the fighting has been considerable.

"It is very bruising and tiring but as a commander I cannot tell you how proud I am of what they have done.

"Some of these soldiers have been under constant attack almost daily for about month but they have always stood their ground, retained their position in the villages and killed - sadly in some respects - a lot of Taleban.


"But we don't want to sit passively drawing the Taleban to us for the next three months."

On Thursday, Lt Gen Richards warned UK troops in Afghanistan faced fighting which was more intense and prolonged than any other conflict in the past 50 years.

He described the threat posed by the Taleban as "persistent low-level dirty fighting".

Over the next three months, the eastern part of Afghanistan - which is currently under US control - will pass to the responsibility of the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) and Lt Gen Richards.

"There will be one general accountable to Isaf, it will offer much greater coherence," he said.

"It is a great honour to be given responsibility for committing troops to this all important threat level - I view it very seriously. I have got a huge capability there."




http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4782457.stm



RIP- Private Leigh Reeves, 25