What our boys are up against

Sky News is running a series of reports today entitled Inside The Taliban investigating how the fighters in Afghanistan operate, their fighting methods, how they live and are funded. They kicked off with a report by Stuart Ramsay, Sky's excellent Chief Correspondent which you can watch here.

It is uncomfortable watching to see how quickly, cheaply and easily the Taliban fighters construct an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that frequently are the cause of deaths and injuries to our soldiers and marines. Yesterday it was announced another serviceman had died while searching for IEDs.

What is rarely reported is that for every soldier who is killed another four are injured. I hope as many people as possible watch these reports to see what our boys are up against. Earlier this week, the strategic defence review highlighted the rows within the MoD over resources. It should not be forgotten that the greatest resource we have in our armed forces are the men and women who serve in them. I hope this review will ensure they have everything they need as they go up against this hidden enemy.