British Forces

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British forces enter 'Opiumland'

Afghanistan remains the world's most important source of opiates, accounting for three-quarters of the global total. Given its importance for financing terrorist and insurgent groups, combating this criminal trade has become a growing part of the international civil reconstruction and military security operation.
The southern region of Helmand accounts for 25 per cent of Afghan opium production, worth USD1.1 billion a year, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Largely untouched by international forces, the area devoted to poppy cultivation has doubled, according to Helmand's anti-drug agency chief Fazel Ahmad Sherzad. Helmand now accounts for more opium production than any of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, earning it the title 'Opiumland' among some international anti-drug officials in the country.
In response, British forces are making a major deployment to Helmand for up to three years, in what marks the start of a new chapter in NATO operations. An advance guard of British troops was deployed in February: 150 soldiers from 39 Regiment of the Royal Engineers and 42 Commando Royal Marines.
Their role is to establish and guard Camp Bastion, a base for subsequent deployments outside the provincial capital of Lashkargah (troops at another base, Camp Ashton, will train a brigade for the Afghan National Army). The Helmand Task Force is due to be fully operational by July, peaking at 5,700 soldiers before reducing to its long-term strength of 3,300 once construction work is complete and the bulk of the engineers withdraw.
The force will be a versatile detachment, comprising light infantry from 3 Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, light armour from the Household Cavalry, an artillery battery, a battery of Desert Hawk reconnaissance drones and support elements. They will be supported in the air by eight Apache attack helicopters, four Lynx utility helicopters and six Chinook transport helicopters.