LONDON, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- A unit of British troops is undergoing specialized training to reduce the number of casualties from improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan.
Troops from the Royal Air Force 5131 Bomb Disposal Squadron are scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in March. The unit has been training to ready troops to counter the growing use of IEDs and other explosive threats, the British Defense Ministry reported.
Defense authorities in the United Kingdom have made it a top priority to bring down the number of Afghan civilian and British troop deaths caused by Taliban and other militants using IEDs in the volatile south of Afghanistan. Officials say as many 75 percent of British casualties in 2009 were from IEDs.
"There is no single solution, there is no panacea," Col. Robert Herring, assistant head of Joint Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search, said in a statement.
"There is no equipment solution, no technological solution or particular way of operating that will solve the problem. It is a multifaceted approach to solving the problem."
