HL Deb 17 July 2003 vol 651 c161WA
The Earl of Sandwich

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What contribution they are making to the recruitment and training of soldiers for the new Afghan army; under what timetable; and with what results. [HL3952]

Lord Bach

The United States is the G8 lead nation for creating the Afghan national army (ANA) and is responsible for the selection of its recruits. Since March 2003 the United Kingdom has provided assistance by training the ANA's junior noncommissioned officers. This programme has been so successful that by September 2003 the ANA should be in a position to carry out this training itself. By then, we shall have begun a programme to train the ANA's senior non-commissioned officers.