Beginning of the end for UK forces' sacrifice

Today's ceremony in Helmand's capital Lashkar Gah to pass full security control to the Afghan authorities marks a huge milestone - for the Afghans and the British.

It is a major step to hand over all government and security control in Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

For the British it is perhaps the most significant date since UK troops went into Helmand five years ago. It is the beginning of the end for British forces' commitment, which has cost the lives of 370 and seriously injured well over 2,000.

This does not mean the British are leaving Lashkar Gah or the province of Helmand soon.

Mentoring and training police, plus the crucial areas of running a justice and prosecution service as well as the new prisons sector, will continue. And the Provincial Reconstruction Team, headed by British and Americans, will carry on after 2014. In governance and justice, the results are surprisingly strong - and for modest cost.

The burden has been taken up by the Stabilisation Unit, which works across Whitehall departments. It has 53 dedicated staff in Helmand, including a former prison governor who is now working on a model workshop scheme for former Taliban members at the city jail.

The acid test is in security, particularly as this summer has switched even more heavily to targeted assassinations of prominent officials, including President Karzai's influential half-brother Ahmed Walid. The Taliban is also concentrating on infiltrating the Afghan army and police.

Training and recruiting of new police and army units are ahead of schedule. The aim is to have a national police force and army approaching 300,000 by 2015.

This puts huge strains on quality control, as nearly 70 per cent of recruits are still illiterate.