UK to withdraw troops from violent Afghan district
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Britain is to withdraw its 1,000 troops from the Sangin region of Afghanistan where they have suffered heavy losses and allow US forces to take charge there, Defence Secretary Liam Fox said on Wednesday. Prime Minister David Cameron, who has made Afghanistan his foreign priority, also confirmed that he wanted to bring British combat troops home within five years.
Sangin, a valley in the north of Helmand province, has been one of the deadliest areas for British forces, accounting for about a third of the 312 British dead in the nine-year war. The British military describes Sangin as an area with deep Taliban affiliation, riven by tribal conflict and a major centre for opium production. (Reuters)
