The Head of the Afghan National Army, General Sher Mohammad Karimi, last week in Sandhurst , where he himself had studied, met with Afghan officer cadets currently  training at the Royal Military Academy.

General Karimi, Chief of the General Staff of the Afghan National Army was in the UK for a three - day visit, where he mee senior UK military figures to discuss ISAF operations in Afghanistan and the development of the Afghan National Army.

The Afghan cadets are three of 16 young officers from overseas who are being trained at the Academy this year.

Vigilance learnt that General Karimi himself spent 2 years at Sandhurst between 1966 and 1968 and had fond memories of his days there. A number of senior Afghan officers are said to have received training at Sandhurst over the years including Captain Khoshal Sadat, the Afghan Aide de Camp to ISAF Commander, General Petraeus’s who was at the Academy between 2006 and 2007.

General Karimi reminisced : “The training that I received and the Afghan officer cadets who attend Sandhurst now is superb and provides the ideal preparation for candidates to return to the Afghan National Army as really good quality officers.”

Adding: “In Afghanistan we are making great progress in recruiting and training officers and NCOs in our own training centres and the ANA and the police will be ready in the next three years to take security responsibility for the areas that are identified as ready for transition from ISAF to Afghan forces.”

The General attended the Sovereign’s Parade in which 208 officer cadets received their commissions at the end of their year’s training. His Majesty The Sultan of Brunei was representing Her Majesty The Queen and inspected the troops.