Publish dateMonday 17 March 2014 - 12:32
Story Code : 87936
UK nears end of Afghanistan pullout
British troops have made the final road trips to recover equipment from closed UK bases before heading back to Camp Bastion 

The British Army has made another significant move towards its final withdrawal from Afghanistan and has now pulled back to controlling just two bases.

UK troops are now only operating at their Afghanistan headquarters at Camp Bastion and an observation post called Sterga 2, both of which are in Helmand.

At the height of the war, more than 10000 soldiers controlled 137 bases.

Only 4000 troops currently remain in the country.

BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said that Camp Bastion itself was shrinking in size as soldiers and military kit was shipped or flown back to the UK.

He said: "The British military described it as a complex and well planned operation that's taken over a month and involved dozens of movements by road and by air.

"The British now occupy their smallest footprint since they first entered Helmand."

Part of this most recent exit operation has involved handing over a base called Lashkar Gah, formerly a main operating base for the British, to the Afghans.

And in the coming months Sterga will be handed over to Nato control.

The number of deaths to British troops throughout the 13-year conflict currently stands at 448, with the most recent being Sapper Adam Moralee, from ۳۲ Engineer Regiment, who died at Camp Bastion on5 March.
Source : Afghan Voice Agency (AVA), International Service
https://avapress.com/vdcepo8v.jh8fxik1bj.html
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