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The deaths of five people earlier this year when an Army Air Corps Lynx helicopter supporting special forces crashed in southern Afghanistan had convinced Mr Cameron Britain should step back from hazardous frontline duties. He told generals lobbying for a special forces mission that Britain would concentrate next year only on training the Afghan army at the Kabul training academy known as Sandhurst in the sand.

Counter terrorism raids against senior Taliban leaders and insurgents suspected of having al-Qaeda links have always been a central part of Americas 13-year-long war in Afghanistan. British special forces have also been based in the country for years and carried out an aggressive campaign of raids against Taliban fighters in Helmand and elsewhere.

A US Navy SEAL during an operation in Afghanistan (AFP)

Senior defence sources say Mr Cameron changed his mind after a visit to Kabul last month to meet the new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

An attack in the summer by a rogue Afghan soldier who killed a senior US general at a Kabul military camp also prompted a re-think of force protection measures for the UK contingent in Kabul. The SAS will now be on hand to protect British officials and troops remaining in the country.

Sources said the sudden resurgence of Islamic State forces in Iraq when Western leaders thought the extremists leadership had been crippled by a special forces campaign in 2007 was a warning that international forces could not stop targeting insurgent leaders.

One source said: Intelligence services will remain for as long as they are welcome. If someone appears in the intelligence ether, they are going to want to have that threat dealt with.

The actual business of counter terrorism or counter insurgency targeting takes quite a lot of work. I am not saying the Afghans cant do it on their own, but they may not be able to do it as well as everyone likes. There will be some mentoring to do.

Iraq has shown that if you dont leave something behind that can dismantle these threats, they will grow from what could be a local problem to something that could be quite a bit more sinister.

The American and British taskforce is expected to be based at the giant US Bagram airbase north of Kabul, on standby to respond to incidents throughout Afghanistan. Three RAF Chinook transport helicopters will remain to transport the SAS troops on their missions.

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SAS to remain in Afghanistan to target al-Qaeda