SOLDIERS from Worcestershire are meeting their Afghan counterparts and settling in to their new surroundings as they face up to life in a war zone.

After touching down in the dusty deserts of Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, members of 2nd Battalion Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) have wasted no time in taking over the role of mentoring and training the Afghanistan National Army (ANA).

Over the next six months troops from across Worcestershire will be largely based at Camp Tombstone next to Camp Shorabak – the home of 3 Brigade of 205 Hero Corps of the ANA – and will be assuming the role of the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT).

This means that the soldiers from 2 Mercians, who are normally based in Belfast, will be passing on their skills to the Afghans and conducting joint patrols around the province.

Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Simon Banton said: “We are mentoring the ANA, guiding them into a position where they will be able to work independently and, in the foreseeable future, enable them to provide their own security for Afghanistan. We do this by attaching mentors to ANA Kandaks (Battalions) and attaching teams of eight to 10 men to ANA companies, themselves about 100 men strong.

“In effect our soldiers are spread over a number of patrol bases throughout Helmand. These locations are often remote and austere and for the next six months we will be living, working and fighting alongside our Afghan comrades.

“Over the next six months I look forward to working with our ANA allies, fostering our links with them and furthering their abilities.

“They are the future for this country and it is our job to support them and mentor them until they are ready to take the helm.”

This is 2 Mercian’s third tour of Afghanistan in five years, the last time being in April 2007, when the battalion was known as the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters. A merger took place just over half-way through that energy-sapping tour, during which nine men lost their lives and many more were injured.

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