2,000 British troops ready for Afghanistan mission

Two thousand troops designated by army chiefs for possible deployment to Afghanistan to boost Britain’s military presence to 10,000 are on “high readiness for operations”.

The troops have just completed an intensive final training programme on Salisbury Plain and army sources warned that there were risks if the men had to wait around for a long period before being given a combat mission. “It’s a perishable set of skills,” one source said.

Defence officials said, however, that despite the operational readiness of the troops, there had been no political decision over whether the personnel from 12 Mechanised Brigade should be sent to Afghanistan.

Arguments for and against are continuing in Whitehall, with the Ministry of Defence and the Treasury said to be on opposing sides. The Treasury is worried about the costs that will have to come out of its reserves. With 21,000 extra American troops deploying to Afghanistan in the summer, however, Britain has been under pressure to boost its contribution in the expectation of a surge in Taleban attacks in the south.

There is no plan to send the whole brigade — more than 4,000 troops — to Afghanistan. A final political decision on whether to send any of the brigade to join the 8,300 troops serving in southern Afghanistan is expected in the next few weeks.

The 2,000 troops selected for potential deployment include soldiers from The King’s Royal Hussars, based at Tidworth, Wiltshire. There are also specialist personnel from 4 Close Support Medical Regiment, based at Aldershot, 26 Engineer Regiment, located at Ludgershall, Wiltshire, 228 Signal Squadron at Bulford, also in Wiltshire, and 4 Logistic Support Regiment Royal Logistic Corps from Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

The troops have been training this month with 250 vehicles, fighter jets and helicopters. Brigadier David Cullen, Commander of 12 Mechanised Brigade, said: “This exercise was the culmination of an intensive period of training and preparation and offered an excellent opportunity to place troops under conditions similar to those they could encounter on current operations.”

The brigade began its training programme several months ago with the expectation of being sent to Iraq. But after Gordon Brown announced that all British combat troops would be withdrawn from Iraq by May 31, army chiefs began to work on contingency plans to earmark elements of the brigade for Afghanistan.

The decision was revealed in The Times last month in an interview with General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff.

“We had earmarked about 4,000 soldiers who might have gone to Iraq and they won’t be going to Iraq, but, over time, those soldiers will feed into the Afghanistan cycle,” General Dannatt said.

He added, however: “If we were to roll the 4,000 across to join the 8,000 in Afghanistan, I would only be willingly replicating the pressure on the Army that I’ve been trying to get us out from under, \ there is a judgment between 8,000 and 12,000 as to what is a reasonable number to be in Afghanistan on a sustainable basis. It’s going to be somewhere in between.”