03/06/2010

 

 

A US General is to take over operational control of 8,000 UK troops in Afghanistan, in a move that signals the UK’s diminishing military presence in the south of the country.

The move is part of a restructuring of Nato forces, with command and control in southern Afghanistan split into two.

The handover may also signal the beginning of the end of the British mission in Helmand — where the majority of the 289 British deaths in Afghanistan have occurred.

Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox welcomed changes he said were "based on sound military rationale" and in the interests of the coalition strategy.

However, the Ministry of Defence has played down the significance of the handover, announced last month. On the ground, the response was also muted among the 8,000 British troops who will fall under the command of Major-General Richard Mills of the US Marine Corps. The aim is to rotate the command with a British general.

“It’s no big deal,” one senior commander said. “Their brigadier will still be a Brit. The soldier on the ground won’t notice a thing.”

The UK force level in Afghanistan is currently 9,500, and including special forces, totals some 10,000.

Until now, UK forces took their orders from British Major General Nick Carter, who was in charge of operations in the south.

But the region is being split to make it more manageable.

Under the plan, the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) will split into two commands in southern Afghanistan by July. Major-General Mills takes control of Regional Command (South West) on a rotational basis with the British.

Kandahar and the three other southern provinces will come under a shrunken Regional Command (South), which had been responsible for the whole of the south under a British officer. Major-General Nick Carter is expected to be replaced by an American when he finishes his tour in November.

The defence secretary said British forces had made "real progress in Helmand", adding that they would "continue to do so working alongside Afghan, American and other Isaf partners making up an international effort of more than 45 nations".

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