British forces hand over restive Afghan district to US

KABUL/LONDON - British forces in southern Afghanistan have handed over control of volatile Sangin district to US troops in a transfer of security responsibility agreed earlier this year.

The Ministry of Defence in London confirmed that control of the district in Helmand province had been handed over to the US Marine Corps early Monday.

British troops will redeploy to central Helmand, where they will continue to lead the fight against the insurgency and assist in building a stable and secure Afghanistan, Defence Secretary Liam Fox said in a statement.

The Sangin transfer was agreed in connection with the US troop surge earlier this year, and announced in July. But British spokesmen insist that the withdrawal does not amount to a “defeat” in the face of fierce fighting against the Taliban insurgency.

Helmand, where Taliban militants are the most active, is also the largest poppy growing province in the country.

Afghanistan supplies more than 90 percent of the world’s opiates. Taliban are widely believed to partly finance their insurgency with opium tax money, mainly collected in southern provinces.

There have been signs of public resentment against the foreign troops, even among the province’s non-Taliban population. But Sangin’s district governor, Mohammad Sharif, said that the British forces would be missed by the people in his area.

“The attitude, service, and sacrifice that has been paid by the Royal Marines has been exemplary and has set a very good example for the people of Sangin,” Sharif said in a statement issued by NATO military in Kabul.

US Major General Richard P.Mills, the commander for NATO-led forces in southern region, also praised the work of British forces in the district, saying, “UK forces have carved out a solid security bubble that we are moving US forces into”.

Of the 337 British troops who have died in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, a third have been killed in Sangin. Many were members of the elite 40 Commando Royal Marines.

Although the overall casualty figures go back to the start of the conflict in 2001, British troops were deployed in large numbers in Helmand province in 2006. They remain at a level of around 10,000.

“British forces have served in Sangin over the last four years and should be very proud of the achievements they have made in one of the most challenging areas of Afghanistan,” Fox said.

“The level of sacrifice has been high and we should never forget the many brave troops who have lost their lives in the pursuit of success in an international mission rooted firmly in our own national security in the UK,” he added.