People should be prepared for British casualties resulting from the upcoming major offensive in Helmand province, Operation MOSHTARAK, which will involve thousands of ISAF troops clearing parts of central Helmand of insurgents, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth has said.
While minor operations involving British troops as part of the initial 'shaping' phase of Operation MOSHTARAK have been taking place, the major 'clearing' phase of the operation is yet to begin.
This phase will be carried out by 15,000 Afghan National Security Forces and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops (including those from the US, the UK, Denmark and Estonia) working in partnership - the word 'moshtarak' is Dari for 'together'.
The operation will extend the authority and influence of the Afghan Government in central Helmand, removing the largest remaining safe havens in the area for the Taliban, insurgents and narco-criminals. It will improve freedom of movement along key transport arteries, critical to the local economy.
The fact that coalition forces are preparing to move into the area en masse has been well publicised in the hope that local Afghans will be prepared and that less-committed insurgents may choose not to fight, thereby reducing bloodshed.
Those who choose to stay and fight have been promised that they will be met with 'overwhelming force'.
And UK casualties in Afghanistan now exceed those in the Falklands.
The death of a British soldier on an explosives-clearing operation in Afghanistan has pushed the British death toll there past that of the 1982 Falklands War, the Ministry of Defence announced Tuesday.
The soldier's death brings to 256 the number of British troops killed in Afghanistan since operations there began in 2001, the defense ministry said. The British death toll from the Falklands conflict was 255.
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By: Brant
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