While MoD chiefs said the deployment is merely “rotational”, sources at Army HQ in Andover said the regiment had been a deliberate choice due to mounting challenges facing coalition troops in Kabul. “The security matrix has been increasingly challenging since January,” the senior source confirmed.<\/p>\n
“While officially we cannot single them out, the Paras have vast experience in security operations and are a natural fit at this time.”<\/p>\n
As part of a promised 440-troop increase to the region, 3 Para will join a battlegroup built around 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles and will be tasked with directly engaging the enemy.<\/p>\n
Speaking ahead of deployment, a source attached to 3 Para said:<\/p>\n
“This is our first run out and return to a combat role since 2014 – to say we’re pleased to be back on operations is an understatement.
\nThe Taliban has increased its presence in Afghanistan and now controls around a third of the country, while IS continues to carry out high-profile suicide attacks in Kabul and Eastern Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
These included an April blast outside a voter ID registration centre that killed 63 people, and twin explosions in a high-security official zone that killed 25, including nine journalists.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0The number of trained Afghan security forces has declined to just 296,400, far below the authorised strength of 334,000.<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
Earlier this month it emerged that 28,000 Afghan police officers and soldiers had been killed since 2015, with 242 murdered last week.
\nIn the once-safe rural district of Jaghori an entire company of 50 elite Afghan commandos were either killed or wounded.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/1046957_1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The Paras’ six-month tour comes 16 years after they became the first British unit to enter battle-torn Kabul in 2002 as part of Operation Fingal, where they assisted the interim administration with security and stability.<\/p>\n
In 2006 they returned under Operation Herrick IV, when a focus on reconstruction and hearts and minds, soon gave way to heavy fighting.<\/p>\n
They faced 500 enemy contacts, with some forward-operating bases only offering soldiers two hours of sleep a day.
\nIn the two-month siege at Musa Qala, 88 men of Easy Company, which included elements of the Royal Irish, fended off a continuous attack by more than 500 Taliban insurgents.<\/p>\n
British troops marked the end of combat operations in 2014, after US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron said the 13-year mission – prompted by Al Qaeda’s use of Afghanistan for training camps before 9\/11 – had succeeded.<\/p>\n
But Donald Trump reversed the policy, increasing troop levels from 8,400 to 16,000 and making their stay objective-based rather than on a timeline.<\/p>\n
While UK Special Forces remain active, Britain’s 600 regular infantry soldiers are mostly limited to instructing Afghan cadets. Under US pressure, that will increase to 1,100 next year.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, an MoD spokesman said: “3 Para has deployed to Afghanistan as part of the UK contribution to the Nato mission.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Britain’s elite Parachute Regiment has been deployed again in Afghanistan to continue its combat against Taliban and ISIS, the mission which began since 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_mat_hreflang_tags":[],"addvideo":"","video_duration":"","farsit":"","target":"0","top_stories":"0","top":"1"},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[39,253,20,32],"class_list":["post-772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afghanistan","category-politics","category-security","tag-afghanistan","tag-british-forces","tag-isis","tag-taliban"],"acf":{"myctype":"change","target":false,"top_stories":false,"top":true,"farsit":""},"yoast_head":"\n