British General Calls Afghan Mission “Amateurish”

The British Chief of Defence Staff General David Richards has slammed the role of British troops in the fight against terror in Afghanistan.

Gen Richards, who was the commander of Nato-led forces in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2008, has also described the Nato command structure in Afghanistan as "disorganised and unhelpful".

He slammed the Afghan campaign as "amateurish" and "verging on the complacent" in a book titled 'War Against the Taliban' authored by a retired British journalist, Sandy Gall.

He also accused the British officials of not learning a lesson from the war in Iraq.

The top British officer also alleged that Britain had failed to provide adequate resources for Afghan reconstruction.

His comments in the book are reported as Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a long-term strategic pact with the British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday.

The Prime Minister said that his country has paid a heavy price for fighting insurgency in Afghanistan and insisted that progress was being made.

He also paid tributes to the latest British casualties in Afghanistan.

Britain is the second largest contributor in Afghanistan after the United States.

It has around 9,500 soldiers most of them based in the southwestern province of Helmand.

Britain is scheduled to drawdown the number of troops to 9,000 by the end of this year.