(UK) Troops currently fighting in Afghanistan could be out of work by end of the summer

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In the firing line: British soldiers from 2nd Company, 1st Battalion, Irish Guards on patrol in the town of Pasab, Afghanistan, last month


Troops currently fighting in Afghanistan could be out of work by end of the summer
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:32 AM on 2nd April 2011

Soldiers and sailors currently in action in Afghanistan and Libya could return home to a redundancy notice rather than a hero's welcome.

Military chiefs are planning to sack more than 2,000 troops in September as a cost-cutting measure - and both soldiers currently fighting in Afghanistan and seamen deployed in the Mediterranean could find themselves in the firing line.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the Army is planning to shed 1,600 uniformed personnel by the end of the summer, while the Navy is looking to make 561 redundancies. The sackings are part of a long-term plan to reduce the strength of both services by a total of 12,000 staff over the next three years.

Ministers have previously insisted that no one serving in Afghanistan would be sacked because of the cuts, which were announced in last year’s defence review.

But while troops serving in Afghanistan on September 1 will be immune from redundancy, soldiers currently deployed in the hotspot could be axed as they will return home before the September announcement.

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