19 August 2013
The headquarters of UK military forces in Afghanistan has moved from Lashkar Gah to Camp Bastion in an early morning helicopter operation.
Headquarters staff from 1st Mechanized Brigade moving from Lashkar Gah to Camp Bastion [Picture: Sergeant Barry Pope, Crown copyright]
The move, which was completed on 9 August, has been hailed as probably the most complex headquarters move on operations ever undertaken by the British Army.
Task Force Helmand (TFH) headquarters has been based in Lashkar Gah since May 2006, co-ordinating UK operations across Helmand province for over 7 years. The headquarters has now moved to Camp Bastion, the main hub of UK forces in Afghanistan.
The move reflects the fact that Afghan security forces now plan and conduct their own operations across the province and the UK military presence outside Camp Bastion is consequently in the process of drawing down.
The UK Secretary of State for Defence, Philip Hammond, said:
The growing capability of the Afghan security forces our troops have trained is allowing us to reduce the number of UK forces in Afghanistan this year – and the relocation of HQ Task Force Helmand from Lashkar Gah to our main base at Camp Bastion marks a key milestone as we draw down. By the end of next year the UK’s combat operations in Afghanistan will be over.
Much more here.
No comments:
Post a Comment