UK hands over violent Afghan district to US troops
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British troops have handed over responsibility for one of the deadliest districts in southern Afghanistan to American forces, Britain's defence ministry said on Monday. Sangin, in southern Helmand province, accounted for almost a third of the British dead in the nine-year old war. The roughly 1,000 British troops in Sangin are to redeploy to central Helmand.
"The handover of Sangin by UK forces represents sound military rationale and reflects the increase of both (international) and Afghan forces across Helmand over the course of the past year," Defence Secretary Liam Fox said in a statement. (Reuters)
