NEWS IN BRIEF
EUROPE
08 Jan 08.Iraq: OP TELIC. From 1 Jan 06 to 15 Dec 07, 295 personnel were categorised as Wounded in Action and 1,297 were aeromedically evacuated. (MoD, 7 Jan 08.) From 1 to 15 Dec 07, the figures were three and 33.
The UK continues to pursue diplomatic means for the return of the four RN boats and associated equipment seized by Iran during two incidents in 2004 and 2007. (Ministerial Answer (MA), 7 Jan 08.)
An order under Section 54 of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 will enable Reservists to be called out for service to support Operations in Iraq for a further 12 months. Some 270 Reservists are currently mobilised and deployed for these Operations. (MA, 8 Jan 08.)
HMS ARGYLL is about to go ‘off-task’ in the Gulf and hand over to HMS CAMPBELTOWN. (MoD, 10 Jan 08.)
The Defence Medical Services have employed civilian locums to work on OP TELIC. 50 were employed in 2004/05 (at a cost of £1.0m); 50 in 2005/06 (£1.1m) and 54 in 2006/07 (£1.2m). (MA, 10 Jan 08.)
Comment: US authorities state that there are 155,000 US troops in Iraq and 10,700 from other foreign nations (WSJ, 10 Jan 08.)
A new survey by the Iraqi Government and the World Health Organisation concluded that 151,000 Iraqis had died between March 2003 and June 2006 as a result of violence. (UN, 10 Jan 08.) (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 0803, 14 Jan 08)
07 Jan 08. Afghanistan: OP HERRICK. From 1 Jan 06 to 15 Dec 07, 315 personnel were categorised as Wounded in Action and 820 were aeromedically evacuated. (MoD, 7 Jan 08.) From 1 to 15 Dec 07, the figures were eight and 19.
The international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is viewed consistently by all ISAF contributing nations. (MA, 7 Jan 08.)
British Forces deployed in Afghanistan currently number about 7,800. (MA, 7 Jan 08.)
Currently, the MoD does not employ any private security companies in Afghanistan. (MA, 7 Jan 08.)
In addition to specialist [Service] linguists, considerable use is made of locally employed civilians in a linguistic role. (MA, 7 Jan 08.)
Marines from C Company, 40 Commando carried out a “daring covert manoeuvre using small Rigid Inflatable Boats” at the Kajaki reservoir on 6 Jan 08. (MoD, 7 Jan 08.)
“Taliban” is an umbrella term used for an increasingly splintered group of anti-Government elements in Afghanistan. (MA, 10 Jan 08.)
Comment: US authorities state that there are 15,000 US troops in the NATO ISAF force and about 11,000 others under separate American command. Other foreign nations account for 15,000 troops in Afghanistan. (WSJ, 10 Jan 08.) (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 0803, 14 Jan 08)
15 Jan 08. Study into mild traumatic brain injury in the armed forces. The Ministry of Defence has today released details of its project looking into the effects of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) on military personnel serving on operations. MTBI can result from relatively minor head injuries or exposure to blast, and can arise in a wide variety of circumstances, occurring in both military and civilian life.
10 Jan 08. UK troops in blood disease checks. Eighteen British troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan are undergoing medical checks after it emerged they received blood which was not properly tested. The emergency transfusions came from US personnel, who have subsequently been found not to have hepatitis or HIV. But the US donors did not undergo full “valid retrospective tests” to screen them for diseases, the MoD said. It added that the risk of any infection was low, and the troops would have died without receiving the emergency blood. (Source: BBC)
11 Jan 08. Italian Judge Grounds AMX Fleet. Italy’s active fleet of 70 AMX fighter-bomber aircraft has been grounded by a judge as part of an investigation into a 2005 crash reportedly prompted by a canopy defect. The indefinite grounding of the fleet will continue as experts appointed by the Sardinia-based magistrate who requested the grounding push on with their investigati