Up to 800 combat soldiers are preparing to deploy to southern Afghanistan to replace 800 engineers as part of Britain’s mission in the restive region. Denying newspaper reports that 1,000 new soldiers were to be sent to Helmand province, a defence ministry spokesman said the rejig of personnel was in-line with a long-established plan to send a 3,300-strong force to take control of security on the ground from the US military under the umbrella of NATO. Full Story