Large group of British fighters arrives in Afghanistan

KABUL: (MEP) – Recently the last large collection of British troops with their equipment has arrived in Afghanistan to help complete the UK’s mission in the country.

The 7th armored Brigade, known as the Desert Rats, has arrived in Helmand Province in the south of the country, where most of the British troops are based, BBC reported.

They’ll be there for nine months and their main job will be packing up kit before British forces finally leave Afghanistan next year. Local troops will then take over.

UK servicemen and women have been in Afghanistan since the war against the Taliban started more than 10 years ago.

BBC Afghanistan correspondent David Loyn at the British base in Camp Bastion said the handover was different from previous ones because the nature of the war had changed.

British troops were in more than 130 bases at one time, but are down to five and that will reduce even more, and they now rarely go on patrol.

The composition has changed as well, with a large part of the force made up of engineers and logisticians involved in bringing back what equipment they can and disposing of what they cannot.

They have enough armor and infantry to protect themselves and take the war to the Taliban if they need to, our correspondent says.

The outgoing commander, Brig Rupert Jones, said security would be maintained as British troops stepped back.

Afghan forces were more than capable of doing the job for themselves, he added.

Six thousand soldiers and 300 armored vehicles took part in their final training exercise – Pashtun Dawn – on Salisbury Plain just over a month ago before heading off to Afghanistan.

The exercise – the largest on the plain for 10 years – put members of the Germany-based brigade through their paces.

Operation Herrick 19, the latest deployment, runs until June 2014 with troop numbers being reduced to 5,200 by the end of 2013.

Incoming commander Brig James Woodham said: “Our unsung heroes are our spouses, our children and our families. Herrick 19 is going to be different, but our people are confident and well prepared.”

In preparation for the deployment, hundreds of woolly hats have been knitted by volunteers in Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield in Hertfordshire to help the Desert Rats through the tough Afghan winter.

The campaign was launched by Afghanistan veteran Jonny Ball who is the constituency agent of local Conservative MP Grant Shapps.