Longer tours for British troops in Afghanistan The current British force in Afghanistan is due to be replaced in October. Members of the brigade that deploys then will spend up to eight months in Afghanistan, overseeing its presidential elections in the spring. The last full British brigade to deploy to Afghanistan will arrive around June next year. Some of its members will stay in the country until March 2015, overseeing the huge logistical operation required to remove thousands of containers of British kit from Afghanistan. A total of 444 British personnel have died in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion that toppled the Taliban regime in Kabul. David Cameron has ordered the end of combat operations by the start of 2015, and British troops are slowly withdrawing from their remote bases and transferring security duties to their Afghan counterparts. Commanders say that by early next year, almost all British troops in Afghanistan will have withdrawn to central bases like Camp Bastion in Afghanistan, meaning few are at risk of insurgent attack. An MoD source said: "This decision is based on clear military advice to provide continuity in key posts as we transition to Afghan control and manage troop deployments during key events such as the Afghan Presidential Elections in the Spring. It's the most effective way of meeting our commitment to the Afghans and the Nato mission until the end of 2014, at the same time as minimising the number of Service personnel who deploy on operations. During this time troops will predominantly be based behind the wire in Camp Bastion carrying out redeployment tasks and training work.