Prince Charles visits troops in Helmand

He is the most senior member of the Royal Family to visit Afghanistan.

Explaining the reason for his visit, Prince Charles said:

"The main reason is that I admire deeply the Armed Forces and support what they are doing wherever I possibly can.

"The other thing also is that I have quite a large number of regiments of which I am colonel-in-chief; there are all sorts of other units in the force in which I try to take an interest. So while my people are out here I wanted to come and see them and sadly it has been difficult up until this time.

"So I am thrilled to have got here at last because I just wanted to see the kind of conditions they were in and also to try to generally take an interest and encourage."

After spending a night at Camp Bastion, the Prince visited Patrol Base Pimon, in the Nad 'Ali district area of Helmand province, operated by the Right Flank of the Scots Guards, where much of the UK effort during Operation MOSHTARAK took place.

He also visited Task Force Helmand Headquarters at Lashkar Gah to meet the troops and receive a brief from Brigadier James Cowan before meeting with Helmand Governor Gulab Mangal and, together with the British commander, took part in a shura with local elders.

He flew into the Afghan National Army's Camp Shorabak in an RAF Chinook, close to Camp Bastion, where he was greeted by an Afghan guard of honour, before speaking with Afghan troops and their British mentors from 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment.

The Afghan and British soldiers gave a demonstration of instructional and training techniques, including identification of improvised explosive devices.

He later flew to Camp Bastion where he spoke with soldiers of the Joint Helicopter Force, the Joint Force Medical Group and the Joint Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group.

The Prince laid a wreath at the Camp Bastion memorial in memory of those British troops killed during the campaign.

The Prince's visit to troops was part of a two-day programme, which also included meeting with the Commander of the International Security Assistance Force, General McChrystal, diplomatic representatives and senior Afghan Government officials. He also visited the Turquoise Mountain Foundation in Kabul.

The Prince said:

"I was glad I was able to meet all those people in Kabul at our embassy who do incredible work there, and the provincial reconstruction team people who again do a fantastic job, unseen and unheard.

"All that effort and all these different projects is quite remarkable. And trying to build capacity on a stabilisation basis. All those people are really quite extraordinary, I think, and how much dedication and effort they put into it. So I just wanted to come and say thank you, well done."

Speaking about his visit to Hemand he said:

"I was able to meet and sit down with some of the ulema, the religious leaders, and had a very interesting conversation with them, and asked them how they viewed the situation.

"And I was able to meet the head of the shura, Governor Mangal of Helmand province, and met with some of the elders, and that again was a great opportunity to talk about the way they view the current situation, about the way local people feel about the role of the British forces and the reconstruction teams.

"The other thing I've always felt is that people never understand enough I don't think, the extraordinary role played by our Armed Forces, not just in the purely military terms, but in all the other wonderful things they are doing - aid to the civil power, putting things back together again, starting water supplies, building schools.

"There's a lot of partnership going on with mentoring the Afghan army and the police. I met a lot of our people who are doing that, brilliantly, and working together with the Afghan National Army and now on operations."

Speaking about the difficulties faced by the families of those on operations Prince Charles added:

"It's a very, very worrying time for all the families when their loved ones are out here. As we know, particularly The Rifles have been having a bloody awful time in Sangin, which is obviously a particularly difficult area, and my heart goes out to them and their families.

"We're standing here with a memorial in the background to all those people who have given their lives for this country.

"And interestingly the elders I met today, all of them have been expressing immense appreciation for the fact that they have died, they were saying we'll never forget them.

"For the families, I know when my youngest son was out here, as a parent you worry the whole time. If you're out here, perhaps you're getting on with everything so it's not the same. But for everybody left behind it's ghastly.

"But having said that, the families are the most wonderful support for their loved ones. That's what they do so magnificently, and we're very lucky indeed to have so many families who have, for instance, two or three sons in the Armed Forces and go on for several generations. It makes me incredibly proud of what they do out here."

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