Breaking news
British army operation to airlift military equipment and armoured vehicles from Afghanistan 0204131.
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Defence & Security News - United Kingdom |
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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. |
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British army soldiers prepare military equipment and combat vehicles to leave Afghanistan. |
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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. |
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