PLA Daily 2005-06-15
LONDON, June 14 (Xinhuanet) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair is
preparing to send up to 2,000 troops to Afghanistan next year when Britain takes
over control of the NATO peacekeeping mission in the country, British newspaper
Financial Time reported on Tuesday. According to the report, the Ministry
of Defense (MoD) on Monday confirmed that plans were being made for a deployment
in the spring but said a final announcement was unlikely before the autumn, the
report said.
The ministry also dismissed as "speculation" reports that as many as
5,000 troops would be sent to the south of Afghanistan.
The report quoted a British official as saying that no firm decision
had been taken beyond deploying the headquarters of the British-led Allied Rapid
Reaction Force, but said the MoD is looking at a force of between 1,500 and
2,000 troops.
The final figure will depend on their location, the extent of their
responsibilities in backing up local security forces and whether they need
communications support if spread across inhospitable territory, it added.
The MoD denied the Afghan deployment was linked to troop levels in
Iraq. But it is bound to raise concerns about over-stretching the armed forces
and the cost of foreign operations. the report said.
According to Whitehall sources, the deployment of extra troops to
Afghanistan will cost between 300 million pounds (540 million US dollars) and
700 million pounds (1,260 million dollars) over a three-year period, depending
on the size of the overall military operation.
Britain currently has 500 troops attached to the international force in
Afghanistan.
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