The Hero
الأســــــــــــــطورة
- إنضم
- Jun 29, 2008
- المشاركات
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- مستوى التفاعل
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- المطرح
- في ضحكة عيون حبيبي
So young, so brave: Faces of the six British soldiers killed by Taliban bomb... and five didn't even make it past the age of 21
Group were on a mounted patrol in the Helmand Province when Warrior armoured vehicle was struck
Five soldiers from 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and one from 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment were killed
It was either hit by an improvised explosive device or possibly an anti-tank mine left by Russian soldiers decades ago
Army's fleet of Warriors was due for a £1 billion upgrade following safety concerns but it had not yet taken place
Flowers pile up outside their barracks at Warminster, Wiltshire
The identities of six soldiers killed in Afghanistan following a huge double explosion on their Warrior armoured vehicle have been released this morning.
The soldiers were killed on Tuesday night during a routine patrol on the borders of Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
The victims have been named today as Corporal Jake Hartley, 20, Private Anthony Frampton, 20, Private Christopher Kershaw, 20, Private Daniel Wade, 20 and Private Daniel Wilford, 21 - all from the 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment. Sergeant Nigel Coupe, 33, from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment was also killed.
Victims: From top left, Sergeant Nigel Coupe, Corporal Jake Hartley and Private Anthony Frampton. From bottom left, Private Christopher Kershaw, Private Daniel Wade and Private Daniel Wilford
The six victims were killed in a catastrophic double blast when the huge bomb triggered a second explosion of ammunition inside their Warrior armoured vehicle.
This reduced the 40-ton Warrior to a riddled shell, meaning it was impossible for any of its occupants to survive.
It was the worst single episode for UK troops in Afghanistan since a Nimrod crash killed 14 in 2006, and the biggest-ever loss to insurgent action.
Showing support: A young boy lays flowers outside Battlesbury Barracks in Warminster
Mourning: Two women embrace after attending a church service at St Giles Garrison Church, near 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment's barracks in Warminster, Wiltshire
It brought the British death toll in Afghanistan to 404.
Horrified colleagues saw the blasts from a second vehicle but there was nothing they could do to help.
It was less than a month since members of the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment left for Afghanistan.
Yesterday flowers were piling up outside their barracks at Warminster, Wiltshire, after one of the deadliest incidents in a decade of conflict.
The Taliban told the BBC they carried out the attack and were 'very proud of it'.
Upsetting: A soldier walks to lay a floral tribute at the 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment's barracks in Warminster, Wiltshire, after six soldiers were killed in Afghanistan
Pte Frampton went to Royds Hall High School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, and signed up to the Army in 2009 at the age of 18, according to the Huddersfield Daily Examiner.
Pte Wilford was just 16 when he joined the Army and Cpl Hartley, a former student at Earlsheaton High School in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was 17 when he enlisted, the paper reported.
Dead soldier Sgt Nigel Coupe and wife Natalie had only just moved into a new home.
They lived with their two young children in the quiet seaside resort of Lytham St Annes, Lancashire.
Whilst on leave Sgt Coupe had been busy doing up the semi detached house they bought earlier this year.
Sgt Coupe was platoon commander on the ill-fated mission.
He was career soldier who met his wife when they were fellow pupils at the town's high school.
They bought their house just yards away from the home of Sgt Coupe's father Alan, a taxi driver, and his wife Linda.
The Duke of Lancaster's regiment have had a family officer at the Coupe household since Tuesday night's explosion.
A neighbour said: 'They are closely knit. Alan is a taxi driver and former chef.'
'But he calls his own car the grandchildrens' taxi.They are a patriotic family and always put out Union flags.'
'Where we live is like a community within a community- its not like the posh side of Lytham St Annes we are just ordinary folk with ordinary feelings and today those feelings for Nigel 's family are tearing us up.'
With UK troops due to withdraw in 2014, the country remains a lawless shambles run by a corrupt regime, and its future looks bleak.
Safety fears over the Warrior have been raised in the past after soldiers were killed in Iraq in 2007 when a bomb ripped through the unprotected underside of the vehicle.
It has been earmarked for a £1billion upgrade with a new system introduced to allow the vehicles to be fitted with different types of armour, but no work has yet been carried out.
Tragic: Six soldiers have been killed after a Warrior armoured vehicle was involved in an explosion in Afghanistan. Pictured are rescue teams from the army recovering the vehicle
Blast: The six soldiers were patrolling the border between Helmand and Kandahar provinces in a Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle similar to this one
Dangerous territory: Two Warrior vehicles were conducting a routine patrol on the border between Helmand and Kandahar provinces when one of the vehicles was involved in an explosion northwest of Durai Junction
David Cameron said it was a desperately sad day for our country.
He added: Every death and every injury reminds us of the human cost paid by our armed forces to keep our country safe.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said it was a cowardly attack.
British and Afghan troops are said to have been involved in a fire fight with insurgents as they recovered the bodies of the dead men.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Significantly, intelligence officers in southern Afghanistan have been warning for the past six weeks that insurgents were seeking to mount a spectacular attack in the troubled Helmand province.
In the past week insurgent attacks against convoys, driven by local employed personnel, have soared and military sources in Helmand suggest that the attack was planned to hit a convoy but took the opportunity to hit a high-value target.
The main 601 route is known as the Highway of Hell after a catalogue of roadside bomb attacks.
[h=3]MASSIVE UPGRADE PLANNED FOR WARRIOR FOLLOWING SAFETY CONCERNS[/h] Following the deaths of four soldiers in Iraq in 2007, a massive £1 billion upgrade of the Warrior armoured vehicle was announced.
Fears about the safety of the vehicles were raised after the soldiers were killed when a bomb ripped through the unprotected underside of their vehicle.
Wiltshire Coroner David Masters said at the inquest into those deaths that better protection was needed for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Improvements: A £1 billion upgrade of the Warrior armoured vehicles was announced at the end of last year following safety concerns
At the end of last year, the government announced a £1 billion upgrade of the vehicles, which are one of the most important strike weapons used by the army.
However, the improvements to the vehicles had not yet taken place before last night's incident.
Hundreds of the vehicles are to be fitted with a new armour mounting system to allow them to be fitted with different types of armour.
The plans involve fitting the Warriors with an improved turret and new, stabilised 40mm cannon, enabling them to fire more accurately while on the move.
The Warrior is capable of holding seven fully equipped soldiers - who are seated facing each other in a rear hull compartment - together with supplies and weapons for a 48-hour period in a war zone.
The vehicle is capable of a road speed of 46 mph and can keep up with a Challenger 2 main battle tank over the most difficult terrain.
It is fitted with cannon which can destroy most modern armed personnel carriers at a maximum range of 1,500 metres, as well as grenade launchers.
The Warrior entered service in 1988 and 'have proved a resounding success for Armoured Infantry battlegroups', according to the MoD website.
It adds: 'The Warrior infantry fighting vehicle has the speed and performance to keep up with Challenger 2 main battle tanks over the most difficult terrain, and the firepower and armour to support infantry in the assault.'
The website says they 'provide excellent mobility, lethality and survivability for the infantry' and describes the Warrior as 'a highly successful armoured fighting vehicle'.
In parts the tarmac road is littered with the remains of burnt out vehicles and craters.
Culvert drains under the road are commonly used by insurgents to hide bombs.
[h=3]THE CAT AND MOUSE BATTLE BETWEEN THE ARMY AND TALIBAN[/h] The battle against the Taliban in Afghanistan is a constant game of cat and mouse.
Despite the British army spending billions on state-of-the-art equipment to protect troops, the Taliban are just as adept at changing their own tactics.
One of their most effective weapons is the dreaded improvised explosive device, otherwise known as an IED.
Many of the bombs are detonated by the weight of the victim who accidentally stands on them.
About 70 per cent of NATO casualties have been due to IEDs and last year there were a record number of the makeshift bombs.
According to the Guardian, in the regional command where Helmand is situated, the number of IEDs jumped by 13 per cent between 2010 and 2011.
Doug Czarnecki, deputy commander of Task Force Paladin, which counters the IED threat, told the newspaper:
'It's a great device to use against a conventional force.
'When we come up with measures to defeat their tactics, they change them. When we introduce new counter-measures they change again.'
It is estimated that 300 troops have had amputations in the past decade, and 3,000 more need help with serious long-term injuries after falling victim to IEDs.
The scale of the deaths the number of casualties among the British had been steadily falling with four soldiers killed in the first two months of 2012 is certain to lead to renewed calls for an early pull-out of UK forces.
Most of the 9,500 UK troops in Afghanistan are expected to be withdrawn by the end of 2014, when 13 years of combat operations in the country are set to cease.
Some will remain as mentors, trainers and advisers.
Yesterday the father of a soldier killed by a Taliban sniper said he hoped Britain would not pull out too soon.
Private Conrad Lewis, 22, of 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, was shot in Helmand province in February 2011.
His father Tony told BBC News: The tragedy for me would be if we left them before the state had its own level of security so if the police and the Afghanistan army were not in the position to make sure theyd got an element of control on that country, Id start to think that there had been a tragic waste of life.
The Prime Minister will discuss Afghanistan with President Obama on his visit to the U.S. next week to ensure they are in lock step about the importance of training the Afghan army and police, and making sure all Nato partners had a properly co-ordinated process for transition.
The Defence Secretary stressed the timetable for withdrawal remained on track.
This will not shake our resolve to see through the mission, said Mr Hammond.
I believe we owe that to all the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives and put themselves at risk over the last few years.
At Battlesbury Barracks in Warminster, a card tucked inside a floral tribute read: Dear 3 Yorks, Tragic news. Warminster is proud and will always consider you our boys. J x.
A card attached to another bunch of flowers read: Six soldiers reporting for duty at St Peters Gate. My prayers and thoughts are with family and friends.
[h=3]MISSING SOLDIERS WERE 'READY FOR THE CHALLENGE' OF AFGHANISTAN[/h] Five of the soldiers involved in the Afghanistan explosion yesterday were from the 3rd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, an armoured infantry battalion equipped with the Warrior armoured vehicle.
The battalion, which also uses Bulldog vehicles, is based at Battlesbury Barracks, Warminster, Wiltshire, as part of 12 Mechanized Brigade.
The regiment is also known as The Duke of Wellington's Regiment or The Dukes - named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who both served in and commanded the regiment.
Worrying time: Five of the soldiers involved in the Afghanistan explosion are from the 3rd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment. It is based at Battlesbury Barracks in Warminster, Wiltshire
Its motto is 'fortune favours the brave' and its Colonel in Chief is the Duke of York.
Its website states: 'The high levels of protection, firepower, ground mobility and sustainability enjoyed by armoured infantry make them well suited to providing both shock action and the endurance element of any operational force.'
Speaking to the Huddersfield Daily Examiner before the battalion deployed, commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Zak Stenning said:
'The troops have worked very hard over the past few months and they will be ready for this challenge. The Yorkshire soldier is unique; he is resilient, often outspoken but always determined.'
The other soldier believed to have been killed in the blast is from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, which has the Queen as its Colonel in Chief.
The light-role infantry battalion made up of 600 servicemen and women is based at Somme Barracks in Catterick, north Yorkshire.
Their website said the battalion had been deployed to Canada most recently, and added: 'In this role, the Battalion is equipped to deploy anywhere in the world to operate on foot, in vehicles or in helicopters.'
[h=2]The Iran Connection: How Taliban learned to make undetectable bombs[/h]Iranian bomb makers are suspected of being behind the device which killed the six soldiers in the Warrior.
Funded partly by the Taliban, the instructors have taught insurgents in Helmand to disguise bombs from electronic detection, producing a bigger and more deadly blast.
Intelligence experts believe Iran is increasingly influencing the style and impact of attacks against British and Nato troops in southern Afghanistan.
Big loss: Five of the six soldiers killed are from the 3rd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment
A small mercenary force sanctioned by Tehran has vast experience from operations in southern Iraq where, in the final days of the mission, insurgents attacked Warrior armoured vehicles and crippled a British Challenger battle tank.
According to military sources, at least two Iranian active service units have operated in Helmand, bringing with them mercenaries from Pakistan and Egypt.
While Tuesdays blast is unlikely to have been planted or triggered directly by the Iranians, they are suspected of teaching the bomb makers involved the techniques needed to avoid roadside counter-measures.
Details of the Iranian link in Afghanistan emerged a day after David Cameron warned MPs that Tehran is developing nuclear missiles capable of hitting London.
Echoing the build-up to the war in Iraq, the Prime Minister suggested that the countrys drive to develop the bomb was a direct threat to the UK.
Border officials in Herat, a city on Afghanistans western border with Iran, have reported that a wide range of material made in Iran including mortars, plastic explosives, propaganda materials and mobile phones is also ending up in insurgents hands.
Grim task: The group was on a mounted patrol on the border between Helmand and Kandahar provinces when their vehicle was struck at 7pm last night. Troops are pictured recovering the vehicle
And a Taliban commander admitted that the insurgents had grown more dependent on Iran as Pakistan stepped up operations against the group on its territory. Plastic bags and coverings are now being used to wrap around the explosive, while the deadly device itself is packed with nails and any available metal, covered with excrement and rat poison to ensure that any survivors have additional problems with infection.
As well as pressure plates and command wires the Iranians have taught Taliban fighters to link mobile phones to the bomb, allowing the trigger man to watch for a suitable target before he strikes.
All UK vehicles are fitted with what is called red and blue ECM Electronic Counter Measures. Details cannot be given for security reasons but they are designed to provide a bubble of safety to troops in vehicles.
Rescue effort: Recovery teams working against terrible weather conditions have not yet been able to reach the vehicle, hence why the deaths have not yet been officially confirmed
The system provides an operator inside the vehicle with a signal which indicates a threat either electronic or a metal trace which could simply be an obstruction or a hidden device. However, if the device is shielded by plastic, the system might not spot it or pick up a weak trace and if the vehicle is moving the operator has only seconds to make a decision.
The Taliban has been using three types of IED: the roadside bomb where an insurgent detonates the device by wire, the remote bomb set off by radio or mobile phone signal and the conventional landmine which is buried beneath the road surface before being detonated by the pressure of a passing vehicle.
The IEDs generally consist of a landmine or artillery shell many are left over from the Soviet occupation rigged to a detonator and, increasingly, to fertiliser to give it greater impact.
Some are extremely basic, no more than two metal kitchen trays, a car battery, a spring and explosive but others are more inventive and it is possible for the bomb to be set to explode under a third or fourth vehicle in any convoy.
Helmand is ideal territory for the bomb maker as patrols often go through compounds of mud walls where holes can be cut, a bomb implanted, and the hole filled with mud which will have dried within a couple of hours.
Those techniques have become increasingly sophisticated, intelligence officials say, under the influence of the Iranians.
[h=2]Security Council under fire[/h]
Attacked: The body set up by David Cameron (pictured) in 2010, is criticised for focusing ¿too narrowly¿ on overseas conflict
The National Security Councils failure to study a string of potential threats has left Britain vulnerable, a damning report finds today.
The body, set up by David Cameron in 2010, is criticised for focusing too narrowly on overseas conflict such as the war in Libya and rising tensions in the Falkland Islands.
It has ignored risks closer to home including the possible collapse of the euro, increased migration and the impact if Scotland voted for independence, according to an influential Parliamentary committee. The scathing findings are contained in the first report of the new Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (NSS), a cross-party panel of MPs and peers.
It attacks the Governments decision to leave the war in Afghanistan out of the NSS because it is a current rather than future conflict.
One of the Prime Ministers first acts after coming to power was to set up the National Security Council, made up of senior ministers, military chiefs and secret service heads. The council drew up a blueprint to help identify future threats and prioritise resources to maintain the UKs security.
But the committee expresses doubts that the NSCs oversight of security issues is sufficiently broad and strategic. It says it avoided some of the more difficult questions faced by Britain about where to target military and diplomatic efforts.
The NSS is also uncritical in its discussion of alliances, avoiding questions about when the UK needs the ability to act alone, and which capabilities it requires.
Group were on a mounted patrol in the Helmand Province when Warrior armoured vehicle was struck
Five soldiers from 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and one from 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment were killed
It was either hit by an improvised explosive device or possibly an anti-tank mine left by Russian soldiers decades ago
Army's fleet of Warriors was due for a £1 billion upgrade following safety concerns but it had not yet taken place
Flowers pile up outside their barracks at Warminster, Wiltshire
The identities of six soldiers killed in Afghanistan following a huge double explosion on their Warrior armoured vehicle have been released this morning.
The soldiers were killed on Tuesday night during a routine patrol on the borders of Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
The victims have been named today as Corporal Jake Hartley, 20, Private Anthony Frampton, 20, Private Christopher Kershaw, 20, Private Daniel Wade, 20 and Private Daniel Wilford, 21 - all from the 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment. Sergeant Nigel Coupe, 33, from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment was also killed.
The six victims were killed in a catastrophic double blast when the huge bomb triggered a second explosion of ammunition inside their Warrior armoured vehicle.
This reduced the 40-ton Warrior to a riddled shell, meaning it was impossible for any of its occupants to survive.
It was the worst single episode for UK troops in Afghanistan since a Nimrod crash killed 14 in 2006, and the biggest-ever loss to insurgent action.
It brought the British death toll in Afghanistan to 404.
Horrified colleagues saw the blasts from a second vehicle but there was nothing they could do to help.
It was less than a month since members of the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment left for Afghanistan.
Yesterday flowers were piling up outside their barracks at Warminster, Wiltshire, after one of the deadliest incidents in a decade of conflict.
The Taliban told the BBC they carried out the attack and were 'very proud of it'.
Pte Frampton went to Royds Hall High School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, and signed up to the Army in 2009 at the age of 18, according to the Huddersfield Daily Examiner.
Pte Wilford was just 16 when he joined the Army and Cpl Hartley, a former student at Earlsheaton High School in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was 17 when he enlisted, the paper reported.
Dead soldier Sgt Nigel Coupe and wife Natalie had only just moved into a new home.
They lived with their two young children in the quiet seaside resort of Lytham St Annes, Lancashire.
Whilst on leave Sgt Coupe had been busy doing up the semi detached house they bought earlier this year.
Sgt Coupe was platoon commander on the ill-fated mission.
He was career soldier who met his wife when they were fellow pupils at the town's high school.
They bought their house just yards away from the home of Sgt Coupe's father Alan, a taxi driver, and his wife Linda.
The Duke of Lancaster's regiment have had a family officer at the Coupe household since Tuesday night's explosion.
A neighbour said: 'They are closely knit. Alan is a taxi driver and former chef.'
'But he calls his own car the grandchildrens' taxi.They are a patriotic family and always put out Union flags.'
'Where we live is like a community within a community- its not like the posh side of Lytham St Annes we are just ordinary folk with ordinary feelings and today those feelings for Nigel 's family are tearing us up.'
With UK troops due to withdraw in 2014, the country remains a lawless shambles run by a corrupt regime, and its future looks bleak.
Safety fears over the Warrior have been raised in the past after soldiers were killed in Iraq in 2007 when a bomb ripped through the unprotected underside of the vehicle.
It has been earmarked for a £1billion upgrade with a new system introduced to allow the vehicles to be fitted with different types of armour, but no work has yet been carried out.
Blast: The six soldiers were patrolling the border between Helmand and Kandahar provinces in a Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle similar to this one
David Cameron said it was a desperately sad day for our country.
He added: Every death and every injury reminds us of the human cost paid by our armed forces to keep our country safe.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said it was a cowardly attack.
British and Afghan troops are said to have been involved in a fire fight with insurgents as they recovered the bodies of the dead men.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Significantly, intelligence officers in southern Afghanistan have been warning for the past six weeks that insurgents were seeking to mount a spectacular attack in the troubled Helmand province.
In the past week insurgent attacks against convoys, driven by local employed personnel, have soared and military sources in Helmand suggest that the attack was planned to hit a convoy but took the opportunity to hit a high-value target.
The main 601 route is known as the Highway of Hell after a catalogue of roadside bomb attacks.
[h=3]MASSIVE UPGRADE PLANNED FOR WARRIOR FOLLOWING SAFETY CONCERNS[/h] Following the deaths of four soldiers in Iraq in 2007, a massive £1 billion upgrade of the Warrior armoured vehicle was announced.
Fears about the safety of the vehicles were raised after the soldiers were killed when a bomb ripped through the unprotected underside of their vehicle.
Wiltshire Coroner David Masters said at the inquest into those deaths that better protection was needed for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
At the end of last year, the government announced a £1 billion upgrade of the vehicles, which are one of the most important strike weapons used by the army.
However, the improvements to the vehicles had not yet taken place before last night's incident.
Hundreds of the vehicles are to be fitted with a new armour mounting system to allow them to be fitted with different types of armour.
The plans involve fitting the Warriors with an improved turret and new, stabilised 40mm cannon, enabling them to fire more accurately while on the move.
The Warrior is capable of holding seven fully equipped soldiers - who are seated facing each other in a rear hull compartment - together with supplies and weapons for a 48-hour period in a war zone.
The vehicle is capable of a road speed of 46 mph and can keep up with a Challenger 2 main battle tank over the most difficult terrain.
It is fitted with cannon which can destroy most modern armed personnel carriers at a maximum range of 1,500 metres, as well as grenade launchers.
The Warrior entered service in 1988 and 'have proved a resounding success for Armoured Infantry battlegroups', according to the MoD website.
It adds: 'The Warrior infantry fighting vehicle has the speed and performance to keep up with Challenger 2 main battle tanks over the most difficult terrain, and the firepower and armour to support infantry in the assault.'
The website says they 'provide excellent mobility, lethality and survivability for the infantry' and describes the Warrior as 'a highly successful armoured fighting vehicle'.
In parts the tarmac road is littered with the remains of burnt out vehicles and craters.
Culvert drains under the road are commonly used by insurgents to hide bombs.
[h=3]THE CAT AND MOUSE BATTLE BETWEEN THE ARMY AND TALIBAN[/h] The battle against the Taliban in Afghanistan is a constant game of cat and mouse.
Despite the British army spending billions on state-of-the-art equipment to protect troops, the Taliban are just as adept at changing their own tactics.
One of their most effective weapons is the dreaded improvised explosive device, otherwise known as an IED.
Many of the bombs are detonated by the weight of the victim who accidentally stands on them.
About 70 per cent of NATO casualties have been due to IEDs and last year there were a record number of the makeshift bombs.
According to the Guardian, in the regional command where Helmand is situated, the number of IEDs jumped by 13 per cent between 2010 and 2011.
Doug Czarnecki, deputy commander of Task Force Paladin, which counters the IED threat, told the newspaper:
'It's a great device to use against a conventional force.
'When we come up with measures to defeat their tactics, they change them. When we introduce new counter-measures they change again.'
It is estimated that 300 troops have had amputations in the past decade, and 3,000 more need help with serious long-term injuries after falling victim to IEDs.
The scale of the deaths the number of casualties among the British had been steadily falling with four soldiers killed in the first two months of 2012 is certain to lead to renewed calls for an early pull-out of UK forces.
Most of the 9,500 UK troops in Afghanistan are expected to be withdrawn by the end of 2014, when 13 years of combat operations in the country are set to cease.
Some will remain as mentors, trainers and advisers.
Yesterday the father of a soldier killed by a Taliban sniper said he hoped Britain would not pull out too soon.
Private Conrad Lewis, 22, of 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, was shot in Helmand province in February 2011.
His father Tony told BBC News: The tragedy for me would be if we left them before the state had its own level of security so if the police and the Afghanistan army were not in the position to make sure theyd got an element of control on that country, Id start to think that there had been a tragic waste of life.
The Prime Minister will discuss Afghanistan with President Obama on his visit to the U.S. next week to ensure they are in lock step about the importance of training the Afghan army and police, and making sure all Nato partners had a properly co-ordinated process for transition.
The Defence Secretary stressed the timetable for withdrawal remained on track.
This will not shake our resolve to see through the mission, said Mr Hammond.
I believe we owe that to all the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives and put themselves at risk over the last few years.
At Battlesbury Barracks in Warminster, a card tucked inside a floral tribute read: Dear 3 Yorks, Tragic news. Warminster is proud and will always consider you our boys. J x.
A card attached to another bunch of flowers read: Six soldiers reporting for duty at St Peters Gate. My prayers and thoughts are with family and friends.
[h=3]MISSING SOLDIERS WERE 'READY FOR THE CHALLENGE' OF AFGHANISTAN[/h] Five of the soldiers involved in the Afghanistan explosion yesterday were from the 3rd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, an armoured infantry battalion equipped with the Warrior armoured vehicle.
The battalion, which also uses Bulldog vehicles, is based at Battlesbury Barracks, Warminster, Wiltshire, as part of 12 Mechanized Brigade.
The regiment is also known as The Duke of Wellington's Regiment or The Dukes - named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who both served in and commanded the regiment.
Its motto is 'fortune favours the brave' and its Colonel in Chief is the Duke of York.
Its website states: 'The high levels of protection, firepower, ground mobility and sustainability enjoyed by armoured infantry make them well suited to providing both shock action and the endurance element of any operational force.'
Speaking to the Huddersfield Daily Examiner before the battalion deployed, commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Zak Stenning said:
'The troops have worked very hard over the past few months and they will be ready for this challenge. The Yorkshire soldier is unique; he is resilient, often outspoken but always determined.'
The other soldier believed to have been killed in the blast is from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, which has the Queen as its Colonel in Chief.
The light-role infantry battalion made up of 600 servicemen and women is based at Somme Barracks in Catterick, north Yorkshire.
Their website said the battalion had been deployed to Canada most recently, and added: 'In this role, the Battalion is equipped to deploy anywhere in the world to operate on foot, in vehicles or in helicopters.'
[h=2]The Iran Connection: How Taliban learned to make undetectable bombs[/h]Iranian bomb makers are suspected of being behind the device which killed the six soldiers in the Warrior.
Funded partly by the Taliban, the instructors have taught insurgents in Helmand to disguise bombs from electronic detection, producing a bigger and more deadly blast.
Intelligence experts believe Iran is increasingly influencing the style and impact of attacks against British and Nato troops in southern Afghanistan.
A small mercenary force sanctioned by Tehran has vast experience from operations in southern Iraq where, in the final days of the mission, insurgents attacked Warrior armoured vehicles and crippled a British Challenger battle tank.
According to military sources, at least two Iranian active service units have operated in Helmand, bringing with them mercenaries from Pakistan and Egypt.
While Tuesdays blast is unlikely to have been planted or triggered directly by the Iranians, they are suspected of teaching the bomb makers involved the techniques needed to avoid roadside counter-measures.
Details of the Iranian link in Afghanistan emerged a day after David Cameron warned MPs that Tehran is developing nuclear missiles capable of hitting London.
Echoing the build-up to the war in Iraq, the Prime Minister suggested that the countrys drive to develop the bomb was a direct threat to the UK.
Border officials in Herat, a city on Afghanistans western border with Iran, have reported that a wide range of material made in Iran including mortars, plastic explosives, propaganda materials and mobile phones is also ending up in insurgents hands.
And a Taliban commander admitted that the insurgents had grown more dependent on Iran as Pakistan stepped up operations against the group on its territory. Plastic bags and coverings are now being used to wrap around the explosive, while the deadly device itself is packed with nails and any available metal, covered with excrement and rat poison to ensure that any survivors have additional problems with infection.
As well as pressure plates and command wires the Iranians have taught Taliban fighters to link mobile phones to the bomb, allowing the trigger man to watch for a suitable target before he strikes.
All UK vehicles are fitted with what is called red and blue ECM Electronic Counter Measures. Details cannot be given for security reasons but they are designed to provide a bubble of safety to troops in vehicles.
The system provides an operator inside the vehicle with a signal which indicates a threat either electronic or a metal trace which could simply be an obstruction or a hidden device. However, if the device is shielded by plastic, the system might not spot it or pick up a weak trace and if the vehicle is moving the operator has only seconds to make a decision.
The Taliban has been using three types of IED: the roadside bomb where an insurgent detonates the device by wire, the remote bomb set off by radio or mobile phone signal and the conventional landmine which is buried beneath the road surface before being detonated by the pressure of a passing vehicle.
The IEDs generally consist of a landmine or artillery shell many are left over from the Soviet occupation rigged to a detonator and, increasingly, to fertiliser to give it greater impact.
Some are extremely basic, no more than two metal kitchen trays, a car battery, a spring and explosive but others are more inventive and it is possible for the bomb to be set to explode under a third or fourth vehicle in any convoy.
Helmand is ideal territory for the bomb maker as patrols often go through compounds of mud walls where holes can be cut, a bomb implanted, and the hole filled with mud which will have dried within a couple of hours.
Those techniques have become increasingly sophisticated, intelligence officials say, under the influence of the Iranians.
[h=2]Security Council under fire[/h]
The National Security Councils failure to study a string of potential threats has left Britain vulnerable, a damning report finds today.
The body, set up by David Cameron in 2010, is criticised for focusing too narrowly on overseas conflict such as the war in Libya and rising tensions in the Falkland Islands.
It has ignored risks closer to home including the possible collapse of the euro, increased migration and the impact if Scotland voted for independence, according to an influential Parliamentary committee. The scathing findings are contained in the first report of the new Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (NSS), a cross-party panel of MPs and peers.
It attacks the Governments decision to leave the war in Afghanistan out of the NSS because it is a current rather than future conflict.
One of the Prime Ministers first acts after coming to power was to set up the National Security Council, made up of senior ministers, military chiefs and secret service heads. The council drew up a blueprint to help identify future threats and prioritise resources to maintain the UKs security.
But the committee expresses doubts that the NSCs oversight of security issues is sufficiently broad and strategic. It says it avoided some of the more difficult questions faced by Britain about where to target military and diplomatic efforts.
The NSS is also uncritical in its discussion of alliances, avoiding questions about when the UK needs the ability to act alone, and which capabilities it requires.