Gordon Brown makes surprise Afghanistan visit

Published: 11:52AM GMT 06 March 2010

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Officials travelling with the Prime Minister pronounced full sum of a �100 million investment in the new British-built vehicles, that should arrive in Afghanistan by late 2011 to reinstate the lightly-defended Land Rovers, would be voiced inside of weeks.

The new vehicles are not as big and lighter than the Mastiff and Ridgeback armoured crew carriers that are already receiving over a little of the tasks of the some-more exposed Snatch.

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The Snatch Land Rovers have been blamed by infantry for most of the deaths caused by roadside bombs.

Downing Street sources pronounced the new vehicles would suggest world-leading panzer division along with high manoeuvrability.

An one more �18 million will additionally be outlay on apparatus and precision for Afghan forces to understanding with the makeshift bomb inclination (IEDs) used by the Taliban in roadside booby-traps opposite British and associated forces.

Also 150 new instructors from the UK infantry and Army will be deployed to sight Afghan police.

The Prime Minister arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday, rught afar after giving justification to the Chilcot Inquiry in to the Iraq war, at that he was challenged over the failings of the Snatch Land Rover.

Mr Brown additionally denied claims that he carnivorous the infantry of supports as Chancellor, inspiring oppressive critique from dual former heads of the Armed Forces.

In a quick debate that took in bases prisoner usually weeks ago from the Taliban, Mr Brown met and thanked a little of the 4,000 British forces who took piece in last month"s attack on mutinous strongholds in southern Helmand Province during the opening proviso of Operation Moshtarak.

Visiting areas that British, Afghan and alternative Nato infantry have seized for the initial time given the begin of the eight-year Nato-led infantry debate in Afghanistan, the PM was shown efforts to lapse them to fast Afghan lift out in what the infantry calls the ""hold"" and ""build"" phases.

Mr Brown additionally toured a infantry precision centre, that is piece of allies" efforts to progress the Afghan done at home force to 134,000 officers by 2011.

Demands on President Hamid Karzai to yield befitting recruits for the infantry and the Afghan Army were a key piece of the new move, corroborated by a vital surge in US couple numbers, to a plan centred on handing lift out to Afghan forces to concede associated infantry to lapse home.

Mr Brown said: ""My revisit is an event to contend appreciate you to the thousands of British, Afghan and ubiquitous infantry concerned and to the dozens of municipal experts operative on stabilisation.

""Their bravery, scapegoat and professionalism are an e.g. of how the ubiquitous village can and should meddle to have us all safer.

""The Afghan Army is already fast expanding. Around 7,000 Afghan infantry are being lerned each month.

"But we additionally need a clever Afghan infantry force to emanate fast security. That is a key plea for the subsequent phase.""

Recalling the situation in Nov last year in that five British infantry were shot passed by a ""rogue"" Afghan law enforcemetn officer they were precision in Nad-e-Ali, Mr Brown said: ""This work is not risk-free, as we know from comfortless events last year.

""I compensate reverence to all those involved, but precision the Afghan forces to offer their republic for themselves is the right approach: it will yield the conditions where the Afghans are means to say their own security and the infantry can come home.""

The contingent lapse of British infantry contingency be ""task-led, not time-led"", pronounced the Prime Minister.

Speaking whilst on vacation infantry concerned in Operation Moshtarak at the Showal brazen handling base, that was until not long ago dominated by the Taliban, he added: ""I have continually pronounced we contingency win the assent as well as the war.

""That is since it is so consequential that in only twenty days sine the begin of the operation, the total ubiquitous and Afghan forces, infantry and civilian, have started branch a building of the heartless Taliban rebellion in to a guide of goal for internal people.""

In provincial collateral Lashkar Gah, Mr Brown stood in front of plaques commemorating the Britons who have lost their lives in Afghanistan over new years as he told infantry the republic was ""proud"" of them.

And he betrothed them: ""We will do all we can to await you with the apparatus required and the resources you need.""

Mr Brown met district governors and visited a infantry precision college on the hinterland of the town, where he saw 150 recruits who will be graduating in a flitting out rite on Thursday.

He additionally met MoD infantry physical education instructor Mandy Henderson, who has been precision sixteen womanlike Afghan recruits, who she described as ""very dauntless women"".

Mr Brown afterwards went on to Shawqat base, where Afghan elders showed him the tomato, onion and watermelon seeds they are distributing in a bid to convince internal farmers to give up civilised world of drug poppies.

And he visited Shawaz handling base, that until 3 weeks ago was a Taliban stronghold.

Troops who arrived there during Operation Moshtarak found the insurgents had fled, and used a derrick to reinstate Taliban banners with the dwindle of the Kabul government.

Mr Brown went up onto the roof tiles of a devalue to see at the surrounding area, where infantry of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers not long ago unclosed 3 vital IED factories and broken twenty-six armed IEDs, a little of that had been placed in the concert in a bid to fall short it prior to the associated forces arrived.

The concert is right afar being reopened with the assistance of a ""cash-for-work"" intrigue underneath that internal men are recruited to lift out metamorphosis work.

Mr Brown said: ""This is an critical impulse that we have seen in the last month, when the forces have left in and the Taliban have run away.

"It has been a conspicuous shift by the efforts of the British Army.""

Moshtarak had ""brought formula that are improved than anticipated"", he said.

Saturday"s revisit is expected to be his last such outing prior to the ubiquitous choosing but aides discharged suggestions it was a stunt, insisting the PM continually visits infantry at this time of the year.

Asked either the outing amounted to electioneering, the PM said: ""I am here since I wish to appreciate the British infantry for their bravery, their loyalty and their professionalism.""

Military chiefs have hailed the initial proviso of Operation Moshtarak, that has claimed the lives of 4 UK use personnel, a success.

A series of projects are right afar underneath approach such as highway building, repairs to markets and replacement of energy reserve underneath the citation of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT).

Efforts to improved prepare infantry and municipal movement are being done following prior criticisms that the Nato operation was disjointed.