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UK tries to hide troops' death'
PressTV - 'UK tries to hide troops' death'
Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:13PM
UK officials are trying to keep hidden the number of British troops who are killed in Afghanistan from the public, an analyst says.
"That [death toll] is now being curtailed. It is as if they [British officials] are trying to hide the ongoing death toll from the public and that is disgusting really because the people in this country [Britain] should know exactly what is going on," Peter Eyre, a Middle East consultant, told Press TV.
Eyre said what disturbs the British public most is the fact that special ceremonies are no longer held for repatriated bodies of British soldiers.
He further pointed out that US-led forces in Afghanistan are losing the battle against insurgents.
London currently has around 9,500 soldiers in Afghanistan, the biggest contingent after the United States.
According to official figures, 376 British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.
Violence has been at its worst since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The security situation remains fragile despite the presence of about 150,000 US-led foreign forces in the Asian country.
Britain has announced that it will pull out 426 auxiliary military personnel by February 2012 while Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will stick to a deadline set by NATO to withdraw its last combat units from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
MSK/AKM
PressTV - 'UK tries to hide troops' death'
Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:13PM
UK officials are trying to keep hidden the number of British troops who are killed in Afghanistan from the public, an analyst says.
"That [death toll] is now being curtailed. It is as if they [British officials] are trying to hide the ongoing death toll from the public and that is disgusting really because the people in this country [Britain] should know exactly what is going on," Peter Eyre, a Middle East consultant, told Press TV.
Eyre said what disturbs the British public most is the fact that special ceremonies are no longer held for repatriated bodies of British soldiers.
He further pointed out that US-led forces in Afghanistan are losing the battle against insurgents.
London currently has around 9,500 soldiers in Afghanistan, the biggest contingent after the United States.
According to official figures, 376 British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.
Violence has been at its worst since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The security situation remains fragile despite the presence of about 150,000 US-led foreign forces in the Asian country.
Britain has announced that it will pull out 426 auxiliary military personnel by February 2012 while Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will stick to a deadline set by NATO to withdraw its last combat units from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
MSK/AKM