LONDON, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Urgent equipment requests from British soldiers fighting in Afghanistan are being turned down for financial reasons, it was reported Sunday.
Officers' demands for weapons, tools, night-vision equipment and other items have been denied by the Ministry of Defense, The Sunday Telegraph said.
All four of the vehicles the British Army uses to pull injured soldiers from minefields in Afghanistan have broken down, the newspaper reported. Officers told the Telegraph they were also short of helicopters.
Critics said Prime Minister Tony Blair is breaking his promise to British troops to keep them well supplied.
"It will disgust the British people that Blair's spin so callously puts our frontline troops at risk," Liam Fox, Tory shadow defense spokesman told the newspaper.
