Britain takes troops off 48-hour alert, confirms four injured

By ROBERT BARR
Associated Press Writer

LONDON – Britain took several thousand troops off 48-hour alert Monday, citing an improving situation on the ground in Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon also confirmed that four British troops had been injured in operations with U.S. forces in Afghanistan, but he gave no details on the operations or the severity of the injuries. He said all had been brought back to Britain for treatment.

Up to 6,000 troops were put on standby alert in mid-November to move to Afghanistan, but Britain's main contribution on the ground was the deployment of a hundred Royal Marines at Bagram airfield north of Kabul. Hoon said this force was "augmented" over the weekend, but gave no details.

"In the light of developments since, and given the more encouraging position on the ground, I have today decided to relax the notice to move for the bulk of these forces," Hoon told the House of Commons.

Two units remained on 48-hour alert, Hoon said. He did not say how many troops remained on 48-hour standby.

Though the United States devoted great effort to building a coalition for a military response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, U.S. forces in the air and the northern alliance on the ground have done almost all the fighting.

Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Canada offered troops, but none have been called into the fray.

Italy pledged 2,700 troops for the anti-terrorism campaign, of which 1,475 are currently en route to the Gulf aboard the aircraft carrier Garibaldi, along with two frigates and a supply ship which left port Nov. 18.

An Italian Defense Ministry spokesman, Col. Paolo Bressan, said Monday that the remainder of the pledged troops are still on standby.

The Netherlands offered 1,400 troops, plus six fighter planes, support planes, three frigates, two minesweepers and a submarine. "If a request from the American government comes in, we can dispatch troops relatively fast," Joop Veen, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said Monday.

Canada dispatched about 2,000 military personnel on six planes, six ships and part of a special forces unit. A second offering of 1,000 land troops to safeguard humanitarian deliveries has been put on hold.

France offered ground troops to assist in moving humanitarian aid, and 58 French soldiers are now in Uzbekistan waiting for permission from the northern alliance to deploy around Mazar-e-Sharif. The Defense Ministry has said it plans to build up the force to about 300.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder narrowly won a parliamentary confidence vote this month to back his government's offer of up to 3,900 troops for coalition duty. Schroeder has stressed there are no plans to send ground troops to Afghanistan.

APNP-11-26-01 1324CST