British to Withdraw Marines From Afghanistan Next Month

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, June 21, 2002

British to Withdraw Marines From Afghanistan Next Month

Britain said on Thursday that it would withdraw its 1,700 Royal Marines from Afghanistan from earlynext month, and they would not be immediately replaced.

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Britain said on Thursday that it would withdraw its 1,700 Royal Marines from Afghanistan from earlynext month, and they would not be immediately replaced.

In a statement to parliament, Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon alsoconfirmed that Britain's contribution to the international security assistance force (ISAF) in Afghanistan would also be reduced from some 1,300 troops to just 400.

The marines to be pulled back from Afghanistan are at present on a special mission, in cooperation with the United States troopsthere, to hunt down remnants of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda network, while the ISAF soldiers' main role has been to help Afghanistan's interim government keep the peace in Kabul.

Earlier on Thursday, Britain formally handed control of ISAF, which it had operated for half a year since the Afghan interim government came to power late last year, to Turkey.

Hoon said the total number of British forces in Afghanistan andthe surrounding region, including the Indian Ocean area, would be more than halved to 2,000 by late summer.

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