One more step has just been taken in Afghanistan, with the final withdrawal of British forces at Camp Bastion in the province of Helmand. It is a chapter of thirteen years of fighting that has closed; British soldiers arrived in the country in October 2011, shortly after the attacks on 11 September. The Task Force Helmand had meanwhile been formed in April 2006 to deal with a comeback of rebellion in the region, anchor point and historical birthplace of the Taliban. The British lost 453 soldiers in operations in Afghanistan, most of them fell during the operations in Helmand. At the height of the fighting, up to 10,000 British soldiers were deployed. In their speeches, British authorities were pleased to have laid the foundation of strong Afghan security forces, to guaranty a democratic future in the country. The British Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, has however recognized that there was no guarantee of the stability of Afghanistan after the departure of Western troops. The British will continue being involved in the country through assistance for the development and training of officers in the Afghan army. But London has already ruled out the possibility of sending troops to Afghanistan, even in the case of major insurgents offensive. As for the abandoned facilities of Camp Bastion, they are now handed over to the Afghan security forces. It is also expected to give a civilian vocation to the aeronautical facilities, which could leave sceptical, as many other things that Afghanistan has experienced in recent years…