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EUROPE
01 Feb 10. Afghanistan: OP HERRICK. A Corporal and a Lance Corporal from 3rd Bn The Yorkshire Regiment were killed as a result of two improvised explosive device blasts near Malgir on 1 Feb 10. UK deaths since the start of Operations on 7 Oct 01 thus rose to 253, of whom 220 were killed as a result of hostile action. (MoD, 1 Feb 10.)
From 1 Jan 06 to 15 Jan 10, 1,086 UK personnel were Wounded in Action and 3,000 were aeromedically evacuated. (MoD, 3 Feb 10.) From 1 to 15 Jan 10 the figures were 24 and 53.
All British troops based at Kandahar are due to be moved to Camp Bastion by June 2011. Bastion has grown from a makeshift camp with a 12km perimeter to a full-scale garrison with a 28km perimeter. The base is now home to 20,000 Service personnel and civilian contractors. (Soldier, February 2010.)
Tornados from IX (Bomber) Squadron have conducted several ‘shows of force’ in support of ground forces. (MoD, 4 Feb 10.)
Elements of 1st Bn Grenadier Guards, 1st Bn Scots Guards and 1st Bn The Royal Welsh took part in an air and ground Operation to the South of Nad ‘Ali. The move was part of the preparation for OP MOSHTARAK (meaning ‘together’), which is to remove insurgents from areas not previously cleared by ISAF troops. When the “major offensive” begins it will be a multi-national ISAF Operation. (MoD, 4 Feb 10.) [The Operation, involving thousands of troops, is expected to start “in the near future”.]
Comment: The Defence Secretary’s evidence session before the Defence Committee, at 10.45hrs on 9 Feb 10, is now to cover the recently-published Green Paper (see Item 3) as well as Afghanistan. The venue has been changed to Committee Room 15 (from Room 16).
A Ministerial Statement on 2 Feb 10 stated that, since the start of Operations in 2001, there have been 303 inquests into the deaths of Service personnel who lost their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The Foreign Secretary made a Statement on Afghanistan (and Yemen) in the House of Commons on 1 Feb 10. The Foreign Secretary is due to give evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee on ‘Afghanistan and Pakistan’ on Wed 24 Feb 10 at 14.30hrs. The provisional venue is the Grimond Room in Portcullis House. As at 1 Feb 10, ISAF numbers have increased slightly. Details are at page 3, with the main changes being for the US (plus 1,305) and Germany (plus 135). (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 10/06, 08 Feb 10)
06 Feb 10. Lord Goldsmith defends BAE Systems plea deal. The former attorney general says he “strongly supported” the deal struck by UK defence contractor BAE Systems to end inquiries into its affairs.The firm is to admit two criminal charges and pay fines of £286m ($447m) to settle US and UK investigations. Campaigners against the arms trade say they are “shocked and angered” that BAE Systems will not have to face a court. But Lord Goldsmith said the new plea bargaining approach of the Serious Fraud Office was the best way to work. He told the BBC: “This is one of the most significant things about this settlement, it is the first time there has been a plea bargain of this sort. “And it is one of the things we are learning