Hundreds of Scottish troops to train Afghan army in Kabul
HUNDREDS of S c ot s soldiers are to be deployed in Kabul to train the Afghan army.
The soldiers from the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, otherwise known as the Royal Highland Fusiliers, are being sent to Afghanistan nine months after the last British combat troops left Helmand province.
The 2 SCOTS soldiers are due to leave from their barracks in Penicuik sometime next month, on a deployment expected to last for seven months.
The soldiers who are based at Glencorse Barracks and are part of the 51 Infantry (Scottish) Brigade have completed months of intensive training.
About 250 soldiers will be based in the Afghan army college near Kabul.
The role of the men from the light role infantry battalion will be to help train Afghan army soldiers and officers as part of Operation Toral, the British mission to support Afghan security forces. Lt Col Graham Wearmouth, of 2 SCOTS said the troops will be there in a very different capacity to their previous combat role in Helmand: “I think it is all comparative. You’ve got to look at what went before and yes, it is not without risk of course, and as a British soldier deploying on an operation overseas you would expect that.
“But it feels very, very different and we are not the ones who are primarily in the lead. It is the Afghans in the lead. We are there in a supporting role, helping them to develop their institutions so that they can then deliver more enduring stability to their own country.”