By
Sophie Jane Evans
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These photos show British troops continuing their withdrawal from Afghanistan – leaving all but one frontline operating base outside Camp Bastion.
The British Combat Logistics Patrol were pictured arriving at the gates of the major military camp – which is also being shut down – after departing from operating bases across Helmand Province.
They could be seen driving military trucks laden with equipment, weapons, ammunition and explosives, before carrying the gear into the base.
Withdrawal: The British Combat Logistics Patrol are captured arriving at the gates of Camp Bastion after departing from operating bases across Helmand Province
Journey: They can be seen driving military trucks laden with equipment, weapons, ammunition and explosives, before carrying the gear into the major military camp
Proud: Speaking from Camp Bastion, Brigadier James Woodham said the handover of operating bases marked a ‘historic moment’ in Britain’s campaign in Afghanistan
Heading home: The last British Combat Logistics patrol heads back to Camp Bastion after recovering equipment and material from closed down UK operating bases in Helmand Province
Britain has now reached a major milestone in the drawdown from Afghanistan as it works towards withdrawing all combat troops by the end of the year.
A total of 448 UK forces personnel have died in the country since the conflict began in 2001 – and more than 5,000 still remain there.
But in an operation lasting more than a month, three of the largest British bases in
Helmand have now been closed down or handed over to Afghan control – with just
one base,
Sterga 2, remaining in the province, effectively becoming the UK’s front
line in the area.
The head of British forces in Helmand yesterday hailed the handover of the bases as a ‘historic moment’ in the Britain’s military campaign in Afghanistan.
Speaking from Camp Bastion, Brigadier James Woodham, Commander of
Task Force Helmand, said: ‘If I speak
to my Afghan counterparts, they are hugely grateful for the investment
of the British forces here in central Helmand.
‘They believe the progress they have made, the confidence that they have now, will hold them in good stead for the future.’
Milestone: Britain has now reached a major milestone in the drawdown from Afghanistan as it works towards withdrawing all combat troops by the end of the year
Clean-up: In an operation lasting more than a month, three of the largest British bases in Helmand have now been closed down or handed over to Afghan control – with just one base, Sterga 2, remaining in the province, effectively becoming the UK’s front line in the area. Above, soldiers clean their weapons at Camp Bastion
Dismantling: One of the bases to be dismantled was Main Operating Base Price, which was shut down yesterday. Above, Brigadier Woodham poses at Camp Bastion
He said he had
seen huge progress in central Helmand since his last tour of duty in
2009/10, which gave him ‘hope for the future’ – adding: ‘It is really difficult
for people in the UK to understand the changes.
‘They are really proud of the progress they have made, I just
wish we could capture that and take that back to the UK, but I have seen
it through my eyes and it is really powerful stuff.’
He said he had particularly noticed a difference in Nade-e Ali, which had been
transformed from ‘a warzone’ into somewhere now ‘primarily
peaceful’.
And when asked if the sacrifice of the 448 British lives had been worth it, he said: ‘It is always a difficult question to ask when there has been a
human cost here in central Helmand.
Successful operation: Defence Secretary Philip Hammond (pictured) said the handover and closure of UK bases across Helmand ‘underlines the progress UK Forces have made to increase security and stability across the province’
‘I guess ultimately history will judge the worth of what we’ve been doing at our Government’s request here.’
Two of the bases handed over to Afghan control in recent weeks include Main
Operating Base (MOB) Lashkar Gah – the former headquarters of UK
military forces in Afghanistan – and Patrol Base (PB) Lashkar Gah Durai.
And Camp Bastion itself – the main military headquarters of British forces in Afghanistan – is expected to be shut down by the end of the year.
The handovers are the latest milestones in a drawdown that has seen UK bases reduce from 137 at the height of the campaign, while Afghan forces are now leading 97 per cent of all security operations across the country and carrying out over 90 per cent of their own training.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said: ‘The handover and closure of our bases across Helmand underlines the progress UK Forces have made to increase security and stability across the province but also to build up the capability of the Afghan forces who will carry that work forward.
‘Those service personnel who have served in Lashkar Gah and Lashkar Gah Durai and at MOB Price as part of successive UK brigades have made a huge contribution to the campaign which has safeguarded our national security at home.
‘UK combat operations will cease by the end of this year but our support for the Afghan people will continue. Meanwhile, our troops will continue the mammoth task of getting our people and equipment home by Christmas.’
Britain’s main base at Lashkar Gah, which opened in 2006 and served as the headquarters of Task Force Helmand until it moved to Camp Bastion in August, was handed over to the Afghans in a ceremony on February 24.
Meanwhile, Lashkar Gah Durai, which commands an important junction in Helmand, was handed over to the Afghans on March 8.
And Main Operating Base Price (MOB), the UK’s largest forward location for most of Operation Herrick, was shut down yesterday.
Lieutenant General John Lorimer, deputy commander of ISAF, the most senior Briton in Afghanistan, said: ‘This is a key milestone in the ISAF mission as we prepare for the conclusion of combat operations at the end of 2014.
‘These bases have been vital in the UK contribution to securing the south of the country from the insurgency and their handover underlines the progress being made in reducing the ISAF footprint.”
He told the Press Association that he had ‘no doubts’ that Afghan forces will be able to look after their own security beyond the end of this year.
He said the Afghan National Security Forces had grown into a ‘competent organisation’, who were: ‘capable, confident in themselves, and credible in the eyes of the Afghan people’.
‘Everything I’ve seen since I’ve been out here this time, since June last year, leads me to believe that the Afghans will be able to look after their own security,’ he said.
Lieutenant Colonel Steve Davies, commanding officer of Task Force Helmand Engineer Group, agreed that the drawdown was a sign of how successful the Afghan National Security Forces had been in taking over the fighting role in the country.
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Positive: Brigadier Woodman said he had seen huge progress in Helmand since his last tour of duty in 2009/10, giving him ‘hope for the future’. Above, Camp Bastion
Weapons: Two of the bases handed over to Afghan control in recent weeks include Main Operating Base (MOB) Lashkar Gah – the former headquarters of UK military forces in Afghanistan – and Patrol Base (PB) Lashkar Gah Durai. Above, ammunition boxes and explosive containers are pictured at Camp Bastion in March this year
However, he added that tearing down
bases which British troops ‘fought so hard to build’ in Afghanistan
carries a certain amount of
sentimentality for those who have served there over the last few years.
‘For those who have completed a number of tours there will be a sentimental aspect to it,’ he said. ‘I think it is satisfying to see the move that has taken place because if you look where Afghanistan was over a decade ago and where it is now, it is unrecognisable.
‘If we roll forward to where we are now and one can look at it that we are tearing down structures that we fought so hard to build, it is a sign of development and I see it very much as a part of mission success for the ANSF because they have developed to a point where we don’t need those points of presence.’
Lt Col Davies likened the programme to dismantling an entire village and carting it away – with the difference being that they have to stay safe, secure and supplied until the last soldiers leave.
Death toll: A total of 448 UK forces personnel have died in the country since the conflict began in 2001 – and more than 5,000 still remain there. Above, the coffin of Warrant Officer Ian Fisher, from the 3rd battalion, the Mercian Regiment, who died in a suicide blast in Afghanistan, is carried from Lichfield Cathedral in Staffordshire
Speaking before MOB Price’s closure yesterday, Major Oliver Major, the commanding officer of C Company of 3 Mercian Regiment, said that at its peak, the base held up to 2,000 soldiers – but at the end, it was home to just 200.
He said what home comforts the base had – including a canteen and a gym – were slowly taken away – and for the last 10 days, the soldiers had eaten field rations and lived out of what they could carry in their rucksacks.
‘We are an infantry company, being out and about and doing stuff on the ground is what we do,’ he said. ‘The guys are very, very adaptable.
‘As long as they have got the basics of life, as long as they have somewhere to wash, as long as they have decent food, as long as they have a way of talking to home, they will adapt to whatever they are told to do.’
The dismantling of MOB Price was led by Captain David Goodman, of Aldershot-based Royal Logistics Corps.
Equipment left in several ways, including helicopter, combat logistic patrols (CLPs) and regular road lorries, he said, all inside ISO shipping containers.
Speaking before the base closed, Capt Goodman said: ‘I’m now dreaming of ISO containers. There have been so many here, every day we are sending out 20 to 30, and it is a nightmare. You wake up in the middle of the night thinking “did this container go?”.’
He said that with 20-30 different military and civilian units involved in the closure, it had been impossible to keep everyone happy.
He added: ‘On the last day when everything is loaded, when the last vehicles are about to go and the last helicopters are about to go out and we leave this place, it will be quite a nice feeling. I’m not going to miss this place.’
Comments (9)
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mikef,
Coventry, United Kingdom,
6 hours ago
13 years and 448 lives wasted by Blair and his followers, Lions led by sheep
Johnny Johnson,
Lost in the middle of nowhere,
6 hours ago
All those lives, limbs, minds millions that were sacrificed were completely wasted because one week after we leave, the bad guys will move back in.
longbranch262,
Derby,
6 hours ago
What on earth did we go in there for – to give them ‘western-style- democracy ? The taliban will be back in full control within 5 minutes of our leaving, so that’s a waste of hundreds of soldiers lives and many thousand civilian casualties.
Mace You Good,
Yellow is the Fellow, United Kingdom,
6 hours ago
Eleven years of wasted efforts, billions wasted, hundreds of soldiers dead, tens of thousands of innocent Afghan civilians unnecessarily dead, and now the despotic regime we deposed will probably take over again. An utterly pointless exercise in kissing an ungrateful America’s behind.
Cade,
Edinburgh, United Kingdom,
6 hours ago
Countless billions of pounds, hundreds of lives lost, 13 years of misery…..for what?
PaulMail,
Reading, United Kingdom,
6 hours ago
Now we should give Ukraine military assistance – a much more worthy cause.
Gary,
Leicester, United Kingdom,
7 hours ago
Brave service personnel. Complete waste of time, money, lives (not to mention the hundreds of soldiers maimed) and the net result will be a country returning to the Middle Ages within days. Only when politicians, or their children, have to be in the front-line will they stop wasting lives in futile wars
Peter Martin,
Espoo,
7 hours ago
My sincere thoughts are for all who have been injured or lost their lives. I imagine the Taliban are delighted to know about the withdrawal. !
Mike,
Oxford, United Kingdom,
7 hours ago
Good, now can we stop pretending that we are masters of the Universe ready to jump into any cause that needs an army and concentrate on the problems back home instead.
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British troops continue withdrawal from Afghanistan
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