British army operation to airlift military equipment and armoured vehicles from Afghanistan 0204131

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Defence & Security News - United Kingdom
 
 
Tuesday, April 2, 2013, 09:16 AM
 
British army operation to airlift military equipment and armoured vehicles from Afghanistan.
Large operation to airlift thousands of tonnes of British military equipment from Afghanistan has begun as troops prepare to leave the country. All combat operations in the country should be over by the end of 2014, leaving Afghan forces in control.
     
Large operation to airlift thousands of tonnes of British military equipment from Afghanistan has begun as troops prepare to leave the country. All combat operations in the country should be over by the end of 2014, leaving Afghan forces in control.
British army soldiers prepare military equipment and combat vehicles to leave Afghanistan.
     
At Camp Bastion, the main operating base in Helmand which has grown to the size of a town, there are now expanses of dust where canvas villages once stood as empty tents are removed.

From the heavily-armoured 15-tonne Mastiff and 20-tonne Buffalo mine protected trucks to far smaller trailers and buggies, battlefield vehicles sit parked up in a 700-capacity compound.

Since January some £70 million worth of British equipment has left Afghanistan and this is expected to increase rapidly as the withdrawal gathers pace.

Lieutenant Charles Ashington-Pickett explained that as well as ensuring nothing goes to waste, the process should prevent weapons and other potentially lethal equipment going astray.

The British presence will be almost halved by the end of this year to 5,200, and today the UK’s most senior commander in the country, Lieutenant-General Nick Carter, told The Independent that reducing the number of British troops too soon this summer could “endanger” progress already made.