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Metro OCTOBER 7, 2012 - by Hayden Smith

MOTHER OF DEAD SOLDIER CALLS FOR END AS AFGHAN WAR ENTERS TWELFTH YEAR

The mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan made an emotional plea for British troops to be withdrawn from the country.

Caroline Munday, who was speaking on the eleventh anniversary of the start of the war, called on David Cameron to "bring them home now".

Ms Munday lost her son James in an explosion in Helmand in 2008.

She was among politicians and activists who gathered in Trafalgar Square to read out the names of some of the troops and Afghan civilians who have died since the beginning of the conflict.

Protesters with banners and placards then marched down Whitehall, where Ms Munday handed in a letter for Mr Cameron at Downing Street.

"I'm here to speak out for mums," she said.

"Our soldiers are amazing and I'm behind them, I support them. But I also know what it feels like to have lost a son in Afghanistan.

"James was the hundred-and-twenty-first, and it's not just a number."

Ms Munday added: "There have been many, many more since James was killed.

"Every time I hear the news when they say 'next of kin have been told' my heart just breaks because I know the devastation that causes.

"There are now four hundred and thirty-three of our soldiers that we've lost, and I just want Cameron to bring them home now. Enough is enough."

Among the protesters were musician Brian Eno, who said the prime minister "wouldn't lose face" if he pulled out the service personnel.

Defence secretary Philip Hammond said troops would be withdrawn in "significant" numbers next year before combat operations end in 2014.

"To those who say 'get out of Afghanistan', I reply that is exactly what we are doing," he added.


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