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Troops can 'just' cope

The new head of the Army has warned that British troops are fighting at the limit of their capacity. Sir Richard Dannatt's comments come just two days after 14 military personnel were killed in a plane crash in Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence has now named those who died in the incident in the south of the country. Sir Richard said the Army was 'meeting challenges on the hoof' and that soldiers could 'only just' cope with the Government's demands. In his first interview as chief of the general staff, Sir Richard said: 'We are running hot, certainly running hot. 'Can we cope? I pause. I say 'just'.' Concern is growing over British involvement in Afghanistan. The 14 deaths in the RAF Nimrod crash in Kandahar brings to 36 the number of British forces personnel killed in Afghanistan since operations began in the country in November 2001. The Government has come under increasing pressure over whether the armed forces are overstretched and under-equipped. Sir Richard, who took over from Sir Mike Jackson last week, refused to set a timeframe for the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan, but emphasised they were there for the 'long term'.

ITN | September 4, 2006Watch more videos from ITN

Tags:. .meeting. .british. .general. .fighting. .those








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