A commander of Britain’s elite special forces in Afghanistan has resigned, a defence source said on Saturday, declining to give further details.<\/p>\n
Major Sebastian Morley, a reservist commander with the Special Air Service (SAS), blamed a chronic lack of investment in equipment for the deaths of some of his soldiers, according to the Daily Telegraph newspaper.<\/p>\n
He described the failure to equip his troops with heavy armoured vehicles as “cavalier at best, criminal at worst”, the paper reported.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Defence and the government have faced repeated criticism from senior officers and politicians over equipment shortages in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
Last month, a coroner said defence chiefs should “hang their heads in shame” over the lack of proper equipment and training that contributed to the death of a British soldier during a rescue in an Afghan minefield.<\/p>\n
The Telegraph report said Morley thought his soldiers were needlessly put at risk because they were forced to travel in lightly armoured Land Rovers rather than heavier vehicles.<\/p>\n
He blamed “chronic underinvestment” for the deaths in June of four British soldiers killed by a landmine which destroyed their Land Rover in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
One of those killed was Corporal Sarah Bryant, the first British female soldier to be killed in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
Morley could not be reached for comment. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said it never comments on the SAS.<\/p>\n
He issued a statement saying: “Equipping our personnel is a clear priority and we are absolutely focussed on providing them with a range of vehicles that will protect them from the ever-shifting threats posed by the enemy.<\/p>\n
“Just this week we announced a 700 million pounds spend on more than 700 new and upgraded armoured vehicles.<\/p>\n
“This was on top of the 10 billion pounds of new equipment delivered to the forces in the past three years.”<\/p>\n
Britain joined the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and still has about 8,100 troops there fighting the Taliban and training Afghan forces. (Reporting by Peter Griffiths; Editing by Louise Ireland)<\/p>\n