British troops won't leave Afghanistan until the end of the decade, Taliban will serve in Afghan army.(DM).
•Senior official says soldiers will be needed for extra three to five years
•Prime Minister visited frontline troops to mark British Armed Forces Day
•He has announced plans for a permanent Afghan war memorial in the UK
•UK plans to end combat operations in the country in December 2014
•Taliban prisoners to be released into the Afghan military under peace deal British troops will be in Afghanistan until the end of the decade a senior military figure has admitted.Despite the start of political reconciliation, a senior commander has conceded that British troops will have to stay for 'three to five years' after the UK ends combat operations in December 2014. That means British forces could still be in the war zone in December 2019. It came as David Cameron visited the frontline today to mark Armed Forces Day and announce plans for a permanent Afghan war memorial in the UK.
Today, a senior diplomat revealed that troops will have to work alongside their Taliban enemies. Prisoners from the militant group will be released as part of peace negotiations and senior sources say they will be 'put in uniform' in the Afghan military. That will dismay the families of the 444 British servicemen who have died in Afghanistan since 2001.
It had already been announced that 170 British troops will remain after the end of 2014 to run the Afghan officer academy at Qarga, known as 'Sandhurst in the sand'. But senior commanders have now admitted that Afghan forces will need far more help than just training. Nato's follow-on mission will also have to help with medical evacuation, logistics, planning helicopter operations and integrating ground combat with close air support. Army chiefs say the Afghan military are now a match for the Taliban on the battlefield, but lack the ability to run support operations properly.
But a senior diplomat admitted that political gains - including six million children now attending school - are 'not irreversible', though politicians hope that the younger generation of Afghans will resist a slide back to the old warlord culture.Diplomats also admit that the Taliban are likely to win greater power after 2014. Talks are under way to change the Afghan constitution, which gives 'godlike' powers to the President. Changes would make it easier for the Taliban to control the Southern and Eastern parts of the country.Read the full story here.