UK troops in Afghanistan: timeline
Updated on 27 July 2009
A snapshot of British deployments in Afghanistan over the past six years.
British troops have been involved in Afghanistan since autumn 2001 when they joined US troops as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, a response to the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.
Although troop figures can change rapidly, the following figures give a snapshot of the number of UK troops deployed over the past six years.
June-December 2003
380 (average)
2004
660 (average)
2005
970 (average)
January 2006
840
February 2006
870
March 2006
1,900
April 2006
2,330
May 2006
3,880
June 2006
4,370
July 2006
4,590
August 2006
4,950
September 2006
5,220
October 2006
5,850
January 2007
5,200
March 2007
5,200
July 2007
6,500
October 2007
7,740
December 2007
7,753
April 2008
7,750
June 2008
8,530
October 2008
8,330
December 2008
8,745
March 2009
8,300
April 2009
8,300
June 2009
8,300
July 2009
9,000
Source: Hansard (to 2006), Nato (from 2007)
