Security in Afghanistan will only improve if the international community commits to supporting its fledgling democracy, the most senior British officer at Camp Bastion has warned.
More than 4,000 British servicemen and women are preparing to leave the country and the UK’s principal base at the end of this year.
Brigadier Rob Thomson paid tribute to the London soldiers who served there during the 13-year war that was sparked by the 9/11 attacks in the United States, but denied the coalition was leaving behind a crisis.
He spoke after a spate of heavy losses for the British-trained Afghan army in the Sangin district of Helmand province, an area of strategic importance to drug dealers and the Taliban.
Scores of Afghan soldiers, civilians and insurgents were reported to have died in last month’s clashes.
There have been 453 British military personnel killed in Afghanistan since the US-led coalition invaded and photographs of the British dead line the corridor walls of the coalition command centre where Brigadier Thomson spoke to the Evening Standard.
He said: “We came here to protect the UK homeland from a very difficult and dangerous terrorist threat, and we have defeated that threat and made… the UK more secure.
“But you’ve got to get Afghanistan into a place where that threat is not going to re-blossom or return.
“I think that work will be judged to be done when the Afghans can deliver security for themselves.
“I think we want to see continued international community support to Afghanistan, that’s really important as it takes its place on the stage alongside the other nations.
“There’s always going to be a difficult and insidious Taliban threat, which needs to be tackled.”
He added: “The people of London should be exceedingly proud of what their London Riflemen and their London soldiers have done in the line of duty. They have served their country with courage, they have served their country with patience.”
The British government has committed £178 million over two years for infrastructure and an officer-training academy in Kabul, plus £70 million annually paid to civilian “security industries”.
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Brig Thomson said the Afghan National Security Force was now largely self-sufficient, running its own missions against the Taliban.
Training facilities include the Kabul academy and the Regional Corps Battle School at Camp Shorabak, which neighbours Camp Bastion.
He said he would be “privileged to fight alongside on the battlefield” with many of its new officers.
