Call for British troops to withdraw from Afghanistan

The Government will be defending its strategy in Afghanistan after the eight soldiers killed in the bloodiest day yet were named. Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth will face questions in the Commons later. His appearance before MPs comes as the lives of 15 British soldiers have already been claimed since the start of the month. And at the weekend the Ministry of Defence named eight men killed in the space of just 24 hours - including three who were just 18-years-old. Troops stationed in Afghanistan will be holding a memorial service for those who died. Corporal Jonathan Horne, Rifleman William Aldridge, Rifleman James Backhouse, Rifleman Joseph Murphy and Rifleman Daniel Simpson, of the County Down-based 2nd Battalion The Rifles, were killed near Sangin, Helmand province. Corporal Lee Scott, 26, from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, died in an explosion near Nad-e-Ali. The six died on Friday, while Rifleman Daniel Hume, 22, of 4th Battalion The Rifles, and Private John Brackpool, 27, of Prince of Wales' Company, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards died in the same 24-hour period on Thursday. The latest deaths, will be remembered in a service at Camp Bastion. Their deaths brought the total number of British military fatalities in Afghanistan since the start of operations in 2001 to 184 - surpassing the 179 who died in Iraq. The latest fatalities have sparked fresh criticisms that the British troops lacked the necessary numbers and equipment for their mission, as well as renewed questions about the whole purpose of the UK presence in Afghanistan. Gordon Brown has insisted that the Government's strategy was "the right one" and that the Operation Panther's Claw offensive to drive the Taliban from central Helmand was making significant progress. In an interview with the British Forces Broadcasting Service he said that it was a "patriotic duty" to deny al-Qaeda a fresh foothold in Afghanistan from which they could launch terrorist attacks on the streets of Britain. He insisted also that more armoured vehicles - including the heavily-armoured Mastiffs and the new Ridgebacks - were being deployed with better protection against the roadside bombs which have claimed so many lives. However Tory leader David Cameron said it was a "scandal" that British commanders still lacked sufficient helicopters to enable their troops to move around Helmand with a degree of safety.

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ITN | July 13, 2009

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