Troops use up ammo as war with Taliban claims 14th life
By Neil Tweedie
Daily Telegraph 28/08/2006
British forces suffered their 14th combat death in Afghanistan yesterday as commanders admitted that intense fighting against the Taliban meant they were using up missiles, rockets and spares at an alarming rate.
The vital Apache attack helicopters have been particularly hard hit with a senior Army source claiming that stocks of weapons and components meant to last until April next year could be used up "well before Christmas".
British combat troops are so few on the ground in Helmand province - effectively one battalion, 500-600 fighting troops, to cover an area the size of Scotland - that they are having to call in air strikes by American B1 bombers and other aircraft on a daily basis.
The eight Apaches in Helmand are operating at full stretch, answering calls for help from British patrols and small outlying garrisons. The £1 billion in funding promised by the Treasury for the intended three-year deployment is being used up at a much faster rate than predicted and Apache units in Britain will have to be stripped of their weapons, spares and flying hours to cope. The MoD may have to ask for more money from the Treasury or face cutting other budgets.
The soldier killed in the early hours of yesterday was a member of 14 Signal Regiment, which specialises in electronic eavesdropping and jamming. He may have been monitoring Taliban communications. He died during an assault on what was described as a "platoon house" in Musa Qaleh in the north of Helmand.
Brigadier Ed Butler, the commander of the British contingent in Helmand, said: "The Taliban are a determined enemy, and the challenge of bringing security to Musa Qaleh is a continuing one. But we are well on track to succeed."
The statement was one of a number of optimistic assessments issuing from senior British officers, including one last week suggesting that the Taliban had "gone away to lick their wounds".
Objective reporting of the fighting in Helmand is lacking due to the refusal of commanders to have journalists at forward bases.
It has also emerged that the Royal Military Police are investigating six shooting incidents in Afghanistan involving British soldiers. The circumstances are unknown. British paratroopers have, as senior commanders admit, been involved in the most prolonged period of intense fighting since the Korean War. What should have been a security operation covering a major reconstruction effort to win "hearts and minds" has turned into a full-blown war.
The intensity of the air support needed to keep the Taliban attacks at bay is far beyond anything Government ministers expected when they authorised the deployment in January. US Air Force data show that Musa Qalah has been bombed by USAF B-1s, A-10 ground-attack aircraft and RAF Harriers on almost every day this month. US aircraft have attacked the town on more than 20 occasions and there was only one day this month that US aircraft did not bomb targets in Helmand province.
Before British troops arrived there was barely one call a week for air support.
In January, Mr Reid distanced Britain from US tactics that relied on heavy bombing. He said: "We are not going to Afghanistan to wage war - we are going in order to help the Afghan people."
Although it was intended that only six of the Apaches should fly daily, demands for air support mean that all eight are being flown to help troops pinned down. A number of the helicopters have been hit by Taliban fire but none has been seriously damaged.
The Boeing-made Apaches must have key components replaced after a set number of hours flying. Army Air Corps officers now say these are being used up at an alarming rate. Spares and usage of Hellfire missiles, rockets and 30mm chain gun ammunition is much higher than expected. One officer predicted the Apache budget for the financial year April 2006 would be used up well before Christmas.
The inauguration of the Army's third and final Apache regiment may have to be delayed to save money. "It could put at risk the fielding of the full Apache force structure", said a senior officer.
The UK force, due to number 4,500 by the autumn, is conducting operations from its desert base, Camp Bastion, near the provincial capital Lashkar Gah. Reinforcements announced last month by Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, and the retention of the RAF Harrier force will further strain the defence budget. It was reported last week that the Army's Land Command is having to make £40 million of emergency cuts to cope.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "Supplies are restocked as and when they are needed."
She said that British troops were involved in a Nato mission and that US air support was a part of that mission.