KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A British plane crashed in Afghanistan on Saturday, killing 14 military personnel in Britain's worst single loss in the country, British and NATO officials said.

The Royal Air Force Nimrod MR2 aircraft was supporting the NATO mission in the country when it went down, apparently due to a technical problem, in the southern province of Kandahar.

"The Ministry of Defence is extremely sorry to have to confirm that the aircraft lost in Afghanistan earlier today ... was British, and that the crash led to 14 fatalities," a ministry spokesman said in London.
He said the dead included 12 Royal Air Force personnel, a Royal Marine and an army soldier.

The RAF's Nimrod planes carry sophisticated reconnaissance and communications equipment enabling them to relay messages from troops on the ground.

"This tragedy will distress the whole country and our thoughts go out immediately to the families of those who have died," Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a statement.

"British forces are engaged in a vital and dangerous mission in Afghanistan and this terrible event starkly reminds us of the risk that they face daily," he added.

Calling the crash "dreadful and shocking", Defence Secretary Des Browne said all the indications were that it was "a terrible accident and not the result of hostile action".

The crash was Britain's worst single loss in Afghanistan and caps a month in which British forces in the country have suffered severe casualties.

Military analysts said the crash would revive the political debate in Britain about the country's role in Afghanistan and whether its forces are over-stretched given they are also working flat out in Iraq.

The last significant British military crash was in January 2005 when a C130 Hercules transport plane was brought down by hostile fire in Iraq, killing nine Britons and one Australian.

NATO said in a statement the British plane crashed after declaring a technical problem. "Enemy action has been discounted at this stage," it said.

The crash came at a time when the Taliban and other insurgent and criminal groups have stepped up attacks on Afghan and foreign forces, plunging the country into its bloodiest period since the Taliban were toppled in late 2001.

About 2,000 people, most of them militants but also including civilians, Afghan forces, aid workers and more than 90 foreign soldiers, have been killed in violence this year.

On Saturday, suspected Taliban fighters assassinated a senior Afghan police officer, his three bodyguards and a female relative, leaving only the woman's three-month-old baby alive.

Suspected Taliban also assassinated a district police chief in neighbouring Nimroz province, killing three of his bodyguards. Three attackers were also killed, police said.

FIERCE RESISTANCE

Britain has faced unexpectedly fierce resistance from Taliban fighters since sending the first large foreign force to the southern province of Helmand this year as part of an expanding NATO peacekeeping mission.

A NATO force spokesman, Major Scott Lundy, rejected Taliban claims to have shot down the British aircraft as "absolutely false". "It went off the radar and crashed," he said.

The Taliban, fighting to oust foreign forces, invariably claim to have shot down aircraft that foreign forces and the government say came down accidentally.

The last time the insurgents were known to have brought an aircraft down was last year when they hit a U.S. military helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade during a battle in the eastern province of Kunar.

The crash brings to 36 the number of British forces personnel who have died while serving in Afghanistan since November 2001. That includes soldiers killed in action and some who died in accidents or due to illness.

Seven British soldiers have been killed in fighting in Helmand since the beginning of August, when NATO formally took over southern Afghanistan from U.S. troops to allow Washington to scale back.

Britain said in July it would send 900 more troops and extra helicopters to southern Afghanistan after commanders asked for additional manpower.

It will bring the total of British personnel in the south to 4,500. A thousand more are based at NATO headquarters in Kabul.

ROE and commitment to the task at hand (and the tools to do that job).

Here's Col Tim Collins view from today.

Government must find more funds or pull out
By Colonel Tim Collins
(Filed: 03/09/2006)

If the 14 British servicemen killed in Afghanistan died because of the mechanical failure of their Nimrod plane, then it confirms what I have been saying for months — that the UK's aircraft and helicopters are old and absolutely worn out.

The scandal is made all the greater by the fact that the Ministry of Defence has received offers of extra helicopters, piloted by retired British Services pilots, some of them Special Forces, to help with administrative tasks. Those offers have been rejected because of the cost.

It all boils down to money and political pride. The Government has not spent enough money on the Afghanistan operation but doesn't want to admit it. But there is no alternative: they have to find more funds or pull out. Without more resources the operation will not be able to achieve its objective and will lead only to more casualties without any progress.

The politicians fear the embarrassment of admitting that they misjudged what would be needed in Afghanistan. Can it be that they would rather lose lives than accept that embarrassment and deal with the shocking state of our fleet in Afghanistan? They seem to be more concerned about their reputation and their jobs than with the servicemen and women who are putting their lives at risk for their country.

The deserts of Iraq and inhospitable environments of Afghanistan have taken a heavy toll on our aircraft and helicopters. There is a shortage of spares, technicians and pilots.

We need more troops and more and better equipment if we are to do a proper job in Afghanistan. If things carry on as they are, there will be an even bigger disaster and the Government's failures will come back to haunt them.

The Government has to spend the money now to give our forces a chance of completing their mission successfully. Otherwise it is a hopeless cause and we should pull out.

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Now, have a a look at this article and, importantly, the last line of the article! Troops on teh ground need to know that they are being sent to do a task with one hand tied behind their back - now it looks like the gloved are off.


Black day for Forces as 14 die in Afghanistan
By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 03/09/2006)

The Armed Forces suffered their biggest single loss of life in action since the Falklands War when an RAF Nimrod crashed in southern Afghanistan yesterday, killing all 14 personnel on board.

Twelve of the dead were from the Royal Air Force, one was a Royal Marine and one was a soldier. The crash brings the total number of British military personnel killed in Afghanistan since November 2001 to 36.


Des Browne: Twat, and another member of the Scottish Mafia who make up the UK cabinet "dreadful and shocking"

There were claims that the MR2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down by Taliban fighters armed with an American Stinger surface-to-air missile. But the Ministry of Defence said that all indications were that the crash was caused by mechanical failure.

Commanders in Afghanistan said the aircraft crashed at 4pm local time, 12 miles west of the city of Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, where six RAF Harrier GR7s and Nimrod spy planes and 200 RAF personnel are based.

The aircraft, normally based at RAF Kinloss, sent out an emergency call shortly before going down. Major Scott Lundy, of the International Security Assistance Force, said: "It was supporting a Nato mission. It went off the radar and crashed in an open area in Kandahar."

Nato said it had launched a big offensive against Taliban hideouts in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar, to drive them out of the area.

Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, described the news of the deaths as "dreadful and shocking". He added: "I know that the people of Britain will join me in sending our deep condolences to the loved ones of those who have lost their lives, and to the British military as it deals with the loss of friends and comrades. All the indications are that this was a terrible accident and not the result of hostile action."

Mr Browne conceded, however, that the nature of the crash would lead to "speculation" over its cause.

A defence source said: "It is standard practice for the MOD to claim initially that all aircraft crashes are caused by mechanical failure or pilot error." Following the crash of a Hercules on the outskirts of Baghdad in January 2005, MoD officials said that crash was probably caused by mechanical failure. It emerged that the aircraft was shot down by an Iraqi insurgent rocket.


A Nimrod MR2 flying over RAF Kinloss

The Nimrod MR2 has an excellent safety record and this prompted some sceptics to privately suggest that yesterday's crash may have been caused by a surface-to-air missile despite denials by Nato and the MOD.

Niaz Mohammed Sarhadi, a district chief in Panjwayi province, said: "The plane was high up. Flame was coming from its tail and the two sides." He described intense fighting in the area since yesterday morning, including bombing by helicopters. Tribal elders said that there were some 700 Taliban in the area, heavily dug in and equipped with small arms, RPGs and rockets.

Last night, Tony Blair said: "This tragedy will distress the whole country and our thoughts go out immediately to the families of those who have died. British forces are engaged in a vital mission in Afghanistan and this terrible event starkly reminds us of the risk that they face daily."

The Rev Duncan Shaw, minister for the Church of Scotland in Kinloss, said: "Kinloss will be in a dark hole tonight."

David Cameron, the Tory leader, said: "Today's tragic loss is a reminder of the extraordinarily difficult conditions in which our Armed Forces are operating."

Major Charles Heyman, a defence analyst, told BBC News 24: "It's a black day. It's a big hit to morale. These soldiers are the finest in the world, but they will look at each other and say 'who's next?'."

The Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, Brigadier Ed Butler, said last night: "The resilience, morale, and bearing of our servicemen and women is quite remarkable.

"I am personally humbled by their courage and commitment in getting on with the tough job in hand; delivering over and above, and making a difference to the ordinary people of Afghanistan."

Nine multi-national aircraft have crashed in Afghanistan since 2005, killing more than 95, most of them military.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that, under new rules of engagement, the Armed Forces are now officially at war in Afghanistan.

______________________________________________

Interviewer: "Describe yourself in 12 words or less?"

Me: "Lazy."

With regard to the last line. "About Fucking time too".

Alas without the right equipment and an aging and ailing fleet of aircraft and vehicles it will be a hard uphill struggle.With Blair and his useless cronies totally to blame.

Faugh-a-ballagh

Army 'at its limit' warns new chief Monday September 4, 03:23 AM

British troops are fighting at the limit of their capacity, the new head of the Army has warned.

Sir Richard Dannatt said the Army was "meeting challenges on the hoof" and that soldiers could "only just" cope with the Government's demands.

In his first interview as chief of the general staff, Sir Richard said: "We are running hot, certainly running hot. Can we cope? I pause. I say 'just'."

His warning will fuel mounting alarm about Britain's involvement in Afghanistan after 14 military personnel died when an RAF Nimrod crashed in Kandahar on Saturday. The Government has come under increasing pressure over whether the armed forces are overstretched and under-equipped.
Sir Richard, who took over from Sir Michael Jackson last week, gave his interview before the Nimrod plane crash.

He refused to set a timeframe for the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan, but emphasised they were there for the "long term".

He also downplayed hopes that the number of British forces in Afghanistan could be halved from 7,200 now by the middle of 2007.

Although Sir Richard called for a national debate on defence spending, he would not comment on whether current levels were adequate.

Lets hope the Goverment provides their dependants the backup they will require R.I.P


Trust me, They don't. Its shocking what does/does not happen

We had to fight to get Allan back
We had to fight to get his belongings, much of which, was and is missing
We had to fight to get his Pax insurance
We had to get help from MSP's
Cerificate of death had his name wrong
No one has told us about the Red Caps(SIB) investigation. As far as we know the Army have forgotten about it.

I could go on and on, for days.

Cunts the lot of them!

It is amazing that 24 years after the Falklands fracas our infantry are not personally equipped with NVGs. After the earlier conflict the MoD took all the captured NVGs - and sold them.
Our chopper force is too small for our requirements which means that the pilots and machines are overused and yet the government refuses to bring in former service pilots and machines to ease the load. Our guys are fighting a war whilst the Treasury ties there hands. Get the sons of the PM and his ministers out there and we would see a change in spending.
Meanwhile can anyone tell the guys what the mission is? How can anyone win an open-ended conflict?