Afghanistan: Five Brits killed in eight days
Reuters
A British soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, becoming the sixth to die in the New mission in the area in the past four weeks.
"It was during a patrol in Sangin town. Members of 3 Para battle group were attacked by suspected Taliban forces," a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said in London. "A British soldier was killed during the incident."
No further details were immediately available.
Britain has sent 3,300 troops to southern Afghanistan where they will shortly join an expanding NATO peacekeeping mission entering some of the country's most dangerous territory for the first time.
Commanders say the troops have moved deep into the mountains of northern Helmand province sooner than they had initially planned, where they have been battling Taliban guerrillas.
Two other soldiers were killed over the weekend. Link
db: Mick Smith points out that of the 3,300 troops recently sent out to southern Afghanistan only 600 of them - one battalion - patrol an area several times the size of Wales. But, as if that were not bad enough, of that 600 a bunch of guys are required to remain back at base - and what you are thus left with in terms of troops 'on the ground' ready to fight whoever looks vaguely like the Taliban or a 'war lord' or a 'drug lord' or, as the NATO sec gen called them, 'the spoilers', is 300 infantry. In the last four odd weeks we have lost 2% of this force. Five have died in the last eight days. This was the mission that John Reid said he hoped could be completed in three years without firing a single shot.
A British soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, becoming the sixth to die in the New mission in the area in the past four weeks.
"It was during a patrol in Sangin town. Members of 3 Para battle group were attacked by suspected Taliban forces," a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said in London. "A British soldier was killed during the incident."
No further details were immediately available.
Britain has sent 3,300 troops to southern Afghanistan where they will shortly join an expanding NATO peacekeeping mission entering some of the country's most dangerous territory for the first time.
Commanders say the troops have moved deep into the mountains of northern Helmand province sooner than they had initially planned, where they have been battling Taliban guerrillas.
Two other soldiers were killed over the weekend. Link
db: Mick Smith points out that of the 3,300 troops recently sent out to southern Afghanistan only 600 of them - one battalion - patrol an area several times the size of Wales. But, as if that were not bad enough, of that 600 a bunch of guys are required to remain back at base - and what you are thus left with in terms of troops 'on the ground' ready to fight whoever looks vaguely like the Taliban or a 'war lord' or a 'drug lord' or, as the NATO sec gen called them, 'the spoilers', is 300 infantry. In the last four odd weeks we have lost 2% of this force. Five have died in the last eight days. This was the mission that John Reid said he hoped could be completed in three years without firing a single shot.
posted by exoplanet at 6:42 PM
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