By IRNA,
London : The number of attacks on Kandahar Airfield reached its highest level last month since British troops were deployed in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, two years ago, according to Defence Secretary Des Browne.
In a written parliamentary reply published Wednesday, Brown said that there had been seven attacks on the base, more than double the number in the previous month.
Since British troops were deployed in May 2006, he said that a total of 89 rocket attacks were recorded at the base, used as the UK’s military hub for southern Afghanistan.
The number in the first five months of this year had reached 15, almost half the number suffered in 2007. The most likely days of recent attacks in the past three months, Browne said, was on Thursdays and Friday.
The figures come as the number of British troops killed in Afghanistan reached 100 last weekend. All but seven have been killed since 2006 when the UK become involved in combat operations in southern Afghanistan.
In February, Britain’s former High Representative to Bosnia Paddy Ashdown called for a new Nato strategy in Afghanistan, warning that defeat was a real possibility due to a “disconnected collection of uncoordinated tactics.”