Cameron abandons Afghan base visit over attack plot
British Prime Minister David Cameron was forced to abandon a visit to a military base in Afghanistan due to suspicions that Taliban insurgents might try to shoot down his helicopter.
Making his first visit to Afghanistan as Prime Minister, Mr Cameron earlier ruled out increasing Britain’s troop commitment and called for quicker progress to bring troops home.
He was due to visit troops at Shahzad forward operating base in Helmand province, a location seen as relatively quiet after recent counter-insurgency efforts, but his Chinook helicopter was abruptly diverted after mobile phone conversations were intercepted suggesting a threat, aides said on Thursday. The overheard conversations suggested insurgents had caught wind of a VIP visit and were preparing to react. One referred to a possible rocket attack on a helicopter.
The Prime Minister was able to visit an agricultural school built with British funds in Helmand.
But the incident underlined the scale of the challenge in Afghanistan, where the Taliban-led insurgency against the government and its allies has raged for nearly nine years.
“This highlights in the Prime Minister’s mind the risks these brave men and women are putting themselves through on a daily basis,” an aide to Mr David Cameron said on Thursday. Earlier the top NATO commander in Afghanistan confirmed that a flagship campaign against the Taliban would take longer than expected in Kandahar.
Mr Cameron, whose visit was not announced in advance for security reasons, held talks earlier with President Hamid Karzai and declared Afghanistan “the most important national security issue for my country”. But he added: “The issue of more troops is not remotely on the UK agenda.” Britain has around 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, mostly in the south, as part of a 46-nation force.
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