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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| More British troops off to Kosovo | More British troops off to Kosovo |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A battalion of 600 British troops will be sent to Kosovo, Defence Secretary Des Browne has announced. | A battalion of 600 British troops will be sent to Kosovo, Defence Secretary Des Browne has announced. |
| It follows a Nato request for extra soldiers to maintain public order in the newly independent country. | It follows a Nato request for extra soldiers to maintain public order in the newly independent country. |
| Britain is responsible for providing the body's standby reserve force for the first six months of this year. | Britain is responsible for providing the body's standby reserve force for the first six months of this year. |
| The soldiers, from 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, will be deployed to Kosovo from the end of May for one month to help Nato with peacekeeping activities. | The soldiers, from 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, will be deployed to Kosovo from the end of May for one month to help Nato with peacekeeping activities. |
| There are currently 150 British troops working in Kosovo. | There are currently 150 British troops working in Kosovo. |
| 'Violence' | |
| The announcement comes in response to a Nato request to deal with violence between Kosovo's ethnic Albanians and its minority Serbian population. | |
| Mr Browne said in a written statement: "The security situation has remained tense and there have been some sporadic incidents of violence." | Mr Browne said in a written statement: "The security situation has remained tense and there have been some sporadic incidents of violence." |
| 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, based in Ballykinler, Northern Ireland, have been specially trained in riot control for the deployment. | |
| The deployment of the UK ORF battalion confirms yet again the professionalism of our armed forces Des Browne, defence secretary | |
| Their commanding officer, Lt Col Rob Thomson told the BBC his men would be seeking to reassure the local Kosovan population by conducting foot patrols and confronting any violent extremists. | |
| Overstretch? | |
| The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner says this latest deployment has prompted suggestions of overstretch within the Army. | |
| Our correspondent said the Ministry of Defence has denied this saying the battalion had long been earmarked for just such a mission. | |
| But he said it is a sign of just how many overseas commitments the Army now has that 2 Rifles had only recently recuperated from operations in Basra. | |
| Before that, they were in Bosnia, Iraq again, Sierre Leone, and Kosovo in 2005. | |
| There is a long standing commitment by the UK, in rotation with Italy and Germany, to provide a UK battalion, if required, to the Nato/EU shared pan-Balkans Operational Reserve Force (ORF). | |
| Defence Secretary Des Browne said: "I would like to stress that the deployment of the UK ORF battalion confirms yet again the professionalism of our armed forces and their ability to provide essential military support at short notice." | |
| The government of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February. | |
| Since then it has approved a new constitution for the country which will come into force June. |