Forces' resources come under fire

Jul 10 2009

Criticism of the resources provided to British forces in Afghanistan has intensified.

Former head of the Armed Forces General Lord Guthrie accused the Government of putting UK forces at risk and spending the "minimum they could get away with" on defence.

His comments came as another two soldiers were killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan.

One of the men, from 4th Battalion The Rifles, was killed in an explosion while on a foot patrol near Nad-e-Ali in Helmand Province on Thursday afternoon.

The second, from Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment attached to 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, died from a gunshot wound following a battle with insurgents near Lashkar Gah in Helmand on Thursday night. He was taking part in Operation Panchai Palang, or Panther's Claw, a major British assault against the Taliban in Helmand ahead of next month's Afghan elections.

Task Force Helmand spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nick Richardson said: "These fine British soldiers paid the ultimate sacrifice and their memory will live with us forever.

"We mourn their loss and our thoughts and prayers are with their families and friends at this very sad time. We know that their deaths were not in vain."

The grim news came as the bodies of another five British servicemen killed in Afghanistan over the past week - four in Operation Panchai Palang - were returned to the UK.

A total of 178 British troops have died in the troubled country since the start of operations in October 2001, just one short of the total death toll in the Iraq war.

General Lord Guthrie, chief of the defence staff from 1997 to 2001, said commanders on the ground were struggling with too few troops.