The authorised level for UK forces in Afghanistan is around 8,000, although the actual number of service personnel deployed in theatre can and does vary. Of these, some 500 are based in Kabul, some 2,100 are based at Kandahar airfield and some 5,400 are based in Helmand province.
MOD identifies the costs of Operations in terms of the net additional costs it has incurred, which excludes the costs that the Department would have incurred regardless of the operation taking place, such as wages and salaries. Reduced costs on activities that have not occurred because of the operation—training exercises for example —are also taken into account in arriving at the net figures.
The annual audited cost of operations in Afghanistan for the last five years are set out in the following table:
2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Total Operations in Afghanistan resource costs 36 58 148 560 1,071 1,873 Expenditure on capital equipment 10 9 51 178 433 681 Total 46 67 199 738 1,504 2,554