British forces have “energised” Taliban
Defence secretary Des Browne has admitted that the presence of British forces in Afghanistan has “energised” the Taliban.
The minister’s comments come amid press reports that the government is preparing to announce the deployment of further troops to reinforce the 3,300 UK military personnel currently serving in the country’s volatile southern Helmand province, which is a stronghold for insurgents.
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper following the death of the sixth British soldier in the region over the last month, Mr Browne said: “It is certainly the case that the very act of deployment into the south has energised opposition, and the scale of that opposition and the nature of that opposition became apparent when we were deploying.”
On Wednesday, Private Damien Jackson, 19, became the latest soldier to lose his life in Afghanistan after a firefight at a helicopter landing pad.
But responding to calls made by former Labour defence minister Doug Henderson, who yesterday told GMTV that British troops in Afghanistan should be withdrawn to barracks until a clear political strategy had been agreed, Mr Browne warned that comments about “alleged confusion” could put soldiers on the ground at risk.
“If the message of confusion, or suggestion that in fact we are there to do something entirely different as a primary purpose, is played back by the Taliban into local communities, and then they think the British troops are coming to starve them or attack them, then that is putting our soldiers at a level of unnecessary risk,” said the defence secretary.
Mr Browne added that the objective of British troops was “clear” – it was to help the new Afghan government establish itself in lawless southern provinces which had traditionally been the home of Taliban warlords and militias.
“We have always explained this was going to be very, very difficult and dangerous, and we have also explained that the purpose was to create the security space for reconstruction of the country,” said Mr Browne.
