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Soldiers killed in Afghanistan to be named
17 Aug 2009More British troops killed in Afghanistan will be named today after the death toll for the campaign passed the 200 milestone.
The Ministry of Defence announced last night that another three soldiers had lost their lives in a Taliban attack - meaning that eight have been killed in just four days.
The toll now stands at 204 since operations began in 2001.
And further light is set to be shed on the scale of casualties suffered by UK armed forces when official injury figures are published this morning.
Gordon Brown expressed his "sorrow" that the grim milestone had been reached, but insisted that the mission in Afghanistan remained "vital".
"In these moments of sorrow and sadness, we must never forget why we are in Afghanistan and why people are making the sacrifice that they are making," he told reporters.
"Three quarters of the terrorist plots that hit Britain derive from the mountain areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan and it is to make Britain safe and the rest of the world safe that we must make sure we honour our commitment to maintain a stable Afghanistan."
Tory leader David Cameron said UK troops and their families had endured a "harsh weekend".
"Our forces are in Afghanistan to prevent that country from ever again being used as a base from which to prepare terrorist attacks, and to help Afghanistan take over responsibility for its own security as soon as it is able to.
"The latest deaths are yet another reminder of the debt we owe to our Armed Forces."
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth suggested the UK's role in Afghanistan could change significantly over the next 12 months.
"I genuinely believe that in the next year or so that we will be able to show a degree of progress," he said.
"It will not be at a situation where we will be able to pull back, but we will increasingly see the Afghan national army taking the front.
"We will be more in a mentoring and a training situation, you know, giving them the steer and the capacity and the knowledge to be able to do the job that they will need to do."
The remarks, made on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, were greeted with scepticism by opposition parties. Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox branded the idea "spin designed to detract from the failure of the Government to fully equip our troops in Afghanistan".
Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey said it was not "remotely possible" for UK troops to leave the front line within a year, and called on ministers to be "honest".
The MoD insisted Mr Ainsworth was merely "restating current policy" that Afghan forces should gradually take a more prominent role.
The latest three soldiers to lose their lives were from The 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. They were attacked while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand Province yesterday morning, according to the MoD.
The 200th casualty, who is expected to be named today, was serving with 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh, and died on Saturday at the Royal College of Defence Medicine, in Selly Oak, West Midlands.
His vehicle patrol had been hit by a roadside bomb near Musa Qal'eh in Helmand Province on Thursday morning.
The 201st casualty, who will also be named today, was from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. He was caught up in an explosion while on a foot patrol near Sangin in Helmand Province on Saturday.
Over the weekend the MoD also named three British troops killed providing security for a meeting ahead of Afghanistan's crunch presidential elections.
Lance Bombardier Matthew Hatton, 23, of 40th Regiment Royal Artillery, was wounded in the initial attack in Sangin on Thursday.
Captain Mark Hale, 42, and Rifleman Daniel Wild, 19, both from 2nd Battalion The Rifles, were carrying him to a helicopter landing zone when there was a second explosion, killing L/Bdr Hatton and Rfn Wild. Capt Hale died of his injuries later in hospital.
There has been another upsurge in violence in Afghanistan as Taliban elements intensify efforts to disrupt the elections, due to be held on Thursday.
The attacks mean that the UK's casualty rate has remained high despite the conclusion of last month's major offensive known as Operation Panther's Claw - which was widely regarded as a success.
Details of the injuries suffered by troops during the last two weeks of July will be published later, and are expected to reflect the ferocity of the fighting against insurgents.
