PM Announces GBP150 M to Counter IED Threat

• Mr Brown Made This Announcement During a Statement to the House of Commons

(December 15,2 009) -- Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced that GBP150m will be provided to help counter the improvised explosive device threat in Afghanistan.

Mr Brown made this announcement during a statement to the House of Commons yesterday, Monday 14 December 2009, about his recent visit to Kandahar and Helmand in Afghanistan.

On the extra funding to counter the IED threat which has caused severe loss of life and injury amongst British troops in Afghanistan, Mr Brown said:

"I can announce that the latest tranche of urgent operational funding from the Treasury will include an extra GBP10m for hand-held mine detectors to follow the GBP12m set aside earlier this year for new explosive disposal robots, over 30 of which are now in operation.

"And I can also announce a package of longer-term investment in our counter-IED capability, including new facilities for training and for intelligence, an extra GBP50m a year, GBP150m in total this year and over the next two years."

Mr Brown also said that when he met Afghanistan's President Karzai earlier this week he asked for and received an assurance of the new assistance the Afghan people will give us in detecting and dismantling IEDs.

This includes Afghan Armed Forces trained to detect and disable IEDs, more local police on the ground, and better intelligence from the Afghan people about the source of IED attacks and encouragement not to harbour those planning explosive attacks on British soldiers.

Speaking about his visit to Afghanistan, Mr Brown said:

"The first purpose of my visit was to thank our brave Armed Forces in a year in which 100 of their colleagues have made the ultimate sacrifice; to acknowledge and congratulate them on the dedicated work they continue to do day after day; and - as Christmas draws near - to wish them and their families well.

"I speak for everyone when I say that the thoughts and prayers of the House and whole country are with them. British people are safer at home because our troops are fighting for our safety this Christmas in Afghanistan."

Mr Brown reiterated that the strategy in Afghanistan is to ensure that Al-Qaeda can never regain free rein there by weakening the Taliban and strengthening Afghanistan stage by stage, district by district, province by province, putting the Afghans in control of their security.

But first, he said, we must address the Taliban insurgency with all the resources and power we have at our disposal. He added:

"Yesterday I flew on one of the newly-deployed Merlin helicopters. In three years we have doubled helicopter numbers, and more than doubled helicopter flying hours; there will be further increases in both over the coming months.

"I saw the mine-resistant Mastiff patrol vehicles, and the smaller but equally well-protected Ridgback vehicles, and heard how since the summer we have increased the number of Mastiff by more than 80 per cent and almost doubled the number of Ridgback - hundreds of new vehicles funded from the Treasury Reserve which are now every month saving lives in Afghanistan.

"Mr Speaker, the aerial surveillance that helps us track and target Taliban improvised explosive devices has now been increased by over 20 per cent."

Mr Brown also reiterated that the strategy in Afghanistan involves working with the Afghan Army and Police. He said:

"President Karzai is increasing the number of Afghan troops in Helmand to 10,000 and already in recent weeks 500 new troops have arrived.

"Once the police training college in Helmand is at full strength, from the spring we will be able to train 2,000 every year.

"Yesterday I saw for myself the reality of British forces mentoring and partnering Afghan troops and the new momentum.

"The Taliban are a determined adversary; they will not give up easily. I am under no illusions that there will be hard fighting ahead but I drew great confidence from the immense professionalism of our servicemen and women and from the telling effect they were having on the enemy, but also the galvanising impact they were having on the Afghan forces they were partnering."

Mr Brown also reported that 36 countries have offered additional manpower to the Afghan campaign. He said:

"We know that the planned increase in American, British and Afghan forces over the coming weeks and months will allow us to review force ratios and develop a new balance in Helmand.

"As I have said to the House, the priority for the additional British forces is to thicken in central Helmand and to shift the emphasis further towards partnering Afghan forces. I can report to the House that commanders told me yesterday that already in two-thirds of British bases our forces patrol jointly with their Afghan counterparts.

"It is by partnering in this way - first in the Army and then with the police - that we will enable the Afghans to step up to the challenge of dealing with the Taliban and with extremism, and, ultimately, when the conditions are right, allow our troops to return home."

Mr Brown said he also saw from his visit and from his discussions with commanders and civilian leaders that we are seeing the beginnings of the political process which must complement our military strategy:

"Tribal and town elders already providing the kind of effective, accountable grass roots government which must be the foundation for any successful political strategy."

Mr Brown also spoke about the importance of countering the Al-Qaeda threat in Pakistan, saying:

"Our national security interests require us to deny the Al-Qaeda the space to operate across Pakistan and also to deny them the option of returning to operate in Afghanistan.

"One of the biggest advances of the last year is the increased co-operation with the Pakistan authorities in support of their efforts in the fight against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda; and we want to build upon this in the coming months.

"As part of our partnership with the Pakistani Armed Forces, construction is underway on the new UK-funded Baluchistan training facility in which British mentors will be working with Pakistani training staff on building the counter-insurgency capability of the 30,000-strong Baluchistan Frontier Corps.

"And as part of our partnership with the civilian government of Pakistan, the new education task force jointly headed by Michael Barber and Minister Shahnaz Wazir Ali, and focused on implementing education reforms, is meeting for the first time today in Islamabad.

"GBP250m of our development assistance to Pakistan is directed towards education, as I have agreed with President Zardari and earlier this month with PM Gilani, because nothing is more important in addressing the root causes of so many of Pakistan's problems than building a strong universal state education system, free from extremist influences, and offering a viable alternative to low quality private schools - which include the poorly regulated and extremist madrassahs."

Source : Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)