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Troop deaths a blow to Afghan exit strategy

Updated on 04 November 2009

By Channel 4 News

The shooting of five British soldiers at a checkpoint in Afghanistan today is a severe blow to plans for the withdrawal of UK troops from the country. Jonathan Miller reports.

British soldiers in Afghanistan (picture: Reuters)

It is supposed to be the UK's exit strategy from Afghanistan, building the country's security forces to a level where British troops can be withdrawn.

Thousands of police and army recruits are now being trained by Nato forces.

But in a country where corruption is endemic, those forces are open to infiltration by the Taliban, as the shooting of five British soldiers appears to show.

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