Meanwhile, U.S. defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived July 11 in Afghanistan. At a press conference in Kabul with Afghan president Hamid Karzai, he insisted that Washington, with 23,000 troops in Afghanistan, will remain part of the NATO-led force that is to take command in the U.S.-controlled south in coming weeks.

Since June, British forces have participated in the U.S.-led Operation Mountain Thrust, billed by its U.S. commanders as the biggest offensive against the Taliban since they were driven out of Kabul in 2001. In recent weeks British paratroopers have been engaging in “almost daily firefights” in the north of Helmand, the Financial Times reported.

The additional deployment follows the deaths of six British soldiers stationed in Afghanistan in the last month. It is supported in the House of Commons by the Conservative and Labour parties.

Speaking on July 4, Conservative defense spokesman Liam Fox said there was an “unease of British commanders in Afghanistan, regarding their ability to carry out the mission.” James Arbuthnot, the Conservative chairman of the defense committee, said the troops are deployed “on a shoestring” and protested Treasury attempts to limit funds for Harrier jets used to back ground forces.

Within the next two months, troops from Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom are to be formally incorporated into the NATO command in Afghanistan, swelling its forces there to about 17,000.

Since May, the UK-led Rapid Reaction Corps has taken command of the NATO forces in Afghanistan.
 
 
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