British troops prepare for a long, hard winter

War on terrorism: Deployment

The only certainty about the land campaign in Afghanistan is that it will be very long and very dangerous – that was the message as Britain announced the details of its deployment.

The 200 Royal Marines from the 3 Commando Brigade, with another 400 standing by, the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious with helicopter gunships, the flotilla of warships and submarines, the squadrons of planes, with 4,200 personnel in all, is just the beginning.

The force is likely to be augmented in the course of the next few weeks, with combat strength likely to rise to about 1,000 along with additional support personnel.

Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, acknowledged yesterday that this will not be a short, sharp campaign with the Taliban quickly cowed and disintegrated and Osama bin Laden either killed or brought back in chains.

Instead, British troops will be going in to face a hard enemy in his own terrain, in a bitter winter which would negate much of the advantages of an advanced Western force.

That is one of the main reasons why more of the forces now finishing the Saif Sareea II exercise in Oman were not dispatched immediately towards Afghanistan. The marines who will be the advance party will need to be replaced and followed in batches by troops in a campaign which, according to Admiral Boyce, may take up to four years.

The marines, from the Mountain and Winter Warfare Cadre, will be needed as the snow and ice sets in about three weeks' time. They will perform hit-and-grab raids on the Taliban and the al-Qa'ida leadership in the high ground where they are likely to take shelter.

Admiral Boyce said yesterday that the Taliban and al-Qa'ida leadership will be constantly pressurised and hunted. He said: "Every time they sniff the air, or look out of the parapet, they should be aware that someone is out to get them."

Operation Veritas, the British end of Operation Enduring Freedom, will have a broad ambit. The forces will, for example, also be targeting the heroin trade controlled by the Taliban and used to bankroll part of their armoury, Sir Michael disclosed. Undercover soldiers inside Afghanistan had been attempting to pinpoint the location of the drugs caches with the aim of destroying them.

While the mountain warfare specialists engage the enemy in the central highlands and the Hindu Kush, other units are likely to carry out attacks in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar in the south. Both sets of troops will work closely with the opposition – the Northern Alliance and anti-Taliban Pashtuns in the south.

Brigadier Roger Lane, commander of 3 Commando Brigade, said in Oman yesterday that Saif Sareea II had given his men "a huge number of transferable skills". He added: "You can dehydrate in the mountains just as easily as here. We are well attuned to operating in arduous conditions. Snow and sand are surprisingly similar in terms of challenges."

The 200 marines are already aboard the assault ship HMS Fearless, which saw service in the Falklands. They have been training in conjunction with special forces, the SAS and the SBS, and will form the teams which will carry out swift raids on Afghan positions, brought in by Sea King helicopters and escorted by Chinooks with high-velocity machine guns.

The SAS and the SBS units will also be based on HMS Fearless and HMS Illustrious. According to defence sources, two squadrons of 22 SAS Regiment are involved, about 100 men with support units of signallers and engineers.

The large numbers of ships are needed because of the difficulties in establishing a secure land base. The volatile political situation in Pakistan makes it unlikely it would host such a centre and there are no signs, as yet, that the Allies are establishing a base in Afghanistan.

The only viable alternative would be a former Soviet central Asian republic like Uzbekistan but, for the time being, they are being used by US forces.

The naval task group also consists of the destroyer HMS Southampton and frigate HMS Cornwall as well as seven Royal Fleet Auxiliaries. There will also be a submarine, to, be picked from HMS Trafalgar and Triumph, which have both fired Tomahawk Cruise missiles in the air campaign, and HMS Superb.

The Government also announced yesterday the deployment of four more aircraft to the operation, adding to the 10 reconnaissance and refuelling planes. The new planes are Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft and Hercules transporters. The latter raises the possibility of troops being flown into a land base once one it is established.