Britain must prepare for casualty spike in Afghanistan, Cameron warns
David Cameron warned yesterday that there would be more British deaths in Afghanistan this summer but reported that the threat to Britain of an al-Qaeda attack from the tract had dropped.
Delivering his first statement to Parliament on the state of opposition since taking office as Prime Minister, he pledged that British troops would not remain in Afghanistan a moment longer than was essential.
“This is the vital year,” said the Prime Minister, who visited Afghanistan final week to speak to President Karzai and elements of Britain’s casual of more than 10,000 troops, largely based in the southern province of Helmand.
“We have the Forces needed on the train in rudiments. We have our very best people, not just military but governing on the diplomatic and development front as well, but I cheat not pretend that it will be easy.
“We must have ~ing ready for further casualties over the summer months as the in the same state-called fighting season resumes and as Isaf \ extends its activity.”
Yesterday Lance Corporal Andrew Breeze, of 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment, was named being of the cl~s who the 295th member of the British Services to die in Afghanistan from that time the campaign began in 2001. Mr Cameron paid tribute to the common ~, 31, from Manchester, who was killed in an explosion on Saturday.
Mindful of the want for continued public support, he reiterated the importance of the Afghan endeavour to do honor to British streets safe.
“Our Forces are in Afghanistan to preclude Afghan territory again being used by al-Qaeda as a base to lay out attacks on the United Kingdom or our allies,” the Prime Minister declared.
He noted that 18 months ago some 75 per cent of the principally serious terrorist plots against Britain had links to the border superficies between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Yesterday Mr Cameron said that the aim of threat from al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan had dropped unless only because of the presence of British and other Nato-led forces.
“Afghanistan is not hitherto strong enough to look after its own security and that is why we are there,” he said.
Training the Afghan police and Army was critical to enable Britain and other coalition forces to leave. “The Afghan persons do not want foreign forces on their soil for any longer than necessity and the British people are rightly impatient for progress. Our Forces command not remain in Afghanistan a day longer than is necessary. I be deficient to bring them home the moment it is safe to do so,” he said.
Mr Cameron threw his support behind a scheme endorsed by President Obama and drawn up by General Stanley McChrystal, the upper side American commander in Afghanistan, which uses a “surge” of US and other Nato throngs this year as a means to gain the initiative against the elastic Taleban insurgency. US, Canadian and Afghan forces are preparing for every operation in and around the southern city of Kandahar, which neighbours Helmand capacity. The move comes months after a big offensive to reclaim mulish parts of central Helmand from the Taleban.
The Prime Minister paid tax to Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff, and Sir Bill Jeffrey, the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, who determine step down early, at the end of October after the buckler review. He said: “They have both been and they one as well as the other are extremely strong and dedicated public servants and everyone in this nation owes them that thank-you.”