UK has handed over its last military base in Afghanistan to the country’s security forces. This puts and end to Britain’s combat operations in Afghanistan. While Camp Leatherneck was handed over to Afghanistan control, the union flag was being lowered at Camp Bastion. According to Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, certain mistakes had been made in the past, but the overall results of the British troops, since 2001 have been noticeable. Approximately 453 British soldiers died during this time. Camp Bastion has been the main base in Afghanistan for the British troops since 2006. The US Marines unit has ended its operations in Afghanistan and handed over the base Camp Leatherneck. Over 2,300 American soldiers died in Afghanistan. Michael Fallon declared: “It is with pride that we announce the end of UK combat operations in Helmand, having given Afghanistan the best possible chance of a stable future. […] Our armed forces’ tremendous sacrifice laid the foundations for a strong Afghan security force, set the security context that enabled the first democratic transition of power in the country’s history, and stopped it being a launch pad for terrorist attacks in the UK”. He also added that the UK will continue to support and encourage the institutional development in Afghanistan.
Fallon said that most of the UK soldiers would be home by Christmas. A few hundred will remain in order to help with the officer academy training. He added: “We’re not going to send combat troops back into Afghanistan, under any circumstances”. The British command of Helmand was transferred to US forces in April. The personnel, military vehicles and kits have began returning home, for a few months now. During the most intense time of the war, in 2009, approximately 10,000 British troops were based in Afghanistan’s Camp Bastion. The UK also had 137 patrol bases in the southern regions of Afghanistan. When Camp Bastion opened, it was declared that the British forces would be there in order to help reconstruct the country. However, they got caught up in the fight against the Taliban. The base grew, extending its perimeter to 22 miles. British troops went to Afghanistan under Tony Blair’s government. Former Labour minister, Hazel Blears declared: “We learned a lot of lessons in Afghanistan and the biggest lesson we need to learn for the future is you need to have a plan, you do need to do reconstruction, you do need to do nation-building”.
According to professor Malcolm Chalmers, the Taliban is still a powerful organization. He declared: “What we have to do to prevent the country slipping back is support the Afghan state – the civilian side, making sure that teachers and doctors and nurses are paid, but also critically the armed forces. […] The Afghan army has come a long way in the last few years but they’re still dependent on foreign money to pay their wages and right now there’s a question mark over how long that will continue”. William Patey, former UK ambassador to Afghanistan said that UK must continue to financially support the government in Afghanistan. He added: “If we renege on that commitment and lose interest because the troops have gone, that will be a betrayal of what we’ve said we will do for the Afghan state and the Afghan people”. The conflict in Afghanistan was described as “difficult and expensive in blood and treasure”, by the former head of the Army, Lord Dannatt. He believes that now Afghanistan had a real chance of a decent future ahead.