Afghanistan
Defence
Written answers and statements, 5 July 2006
Julian Lewis (Shadow Minister, Defence; New Forest East, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the distribution is of UK forces between Operation Enduring Freedom and security assistance to the Afghan Government; and whether personnel may be moved between each role.
Des Browne (Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence; Kilmarnock & Loudoun, Labour)
holding answer
When the UK forces' current deployment to Afghanistan is complete, there will be around 5,000 troops deployed to Afghanistan, of which the majority will be under the command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) with a small number, including the training teams in Kabul and a number of staff officers remaining under Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) control. Our detachment of Harrier GR7s will be available to support both ISAF and OEF. These are separate and distinct missions, although troops deployed on OEF may also act in support of the NATO mission.