10 DEAD, 150 VOTE.. WAS IT WORTH IT? Brit troops' high election price.

Byline: CHRIS HUGHES; JAMES LYONS 

JUST 150 people voted in a flashpoint area of Afghanistan where 10 British troops died in bloody fighting.

Hundreds of UK soldiers fought to free up an area in Helmand so the 25,000-strong electorate would feel safe at the ballot box.

But only 0.6% of eligible voters in Babaji, where the fiercest fighting took place, exercised their democratic right.

It follows the announcement of another British military life lost after a soldier injured in Sangin died in a UK hospital.

The latest death brings to 207 the number of British soldiers who have died in Afghanistan since 2001.

Babaji was one of the main targets during the major offensive Operation Panther's Claw, which launched in late June.

British soldiers fought to free the area of Taliban fighters and secure it so that thousands could go to the polls. But Lib Dem defence spokesman Nick Harvey last night said the mission had failed.

He added: "If the turnout is as spectacularly low as is being suggested, then clearly one of the stated objectives has not been met.

"The Government was too ambitious in claiming what could be achieved in these eleca tions." Defence chiefs angrily hit back at suggestions troops had died in vain.

Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations) Air Vice Marshall Andy Pulford, said: "British Forces know exactly what they fought for.

"Low voter turn out or not, that security will be enduring. And upon that security the Afghan government will continue to build better life for the local people. That was the prize. British Forces know that a better future for all Afghans is worth fighting for."

And British Ambassador to Afghanistan Mark Sedwill insisted: "Panther's Claw, although timed to try to improve security for people for the election, was not specifically about the election."

He added: "The clear phase of that operation only ended a couple of weeks before the election... there is a long road to go until that entire area is fully secure."

Mr Sedwill said Taliban intimidation meant the turnout was always going to be lower than in the last presidential election.

Some early poll results yesterday suggested that President Hamid Karzai may be just ahead of rival Abdullah Abdullah.

But it is believed his lead is not enough to avoid second-round runoffs in October.

Meanwhile details emerged last night on a dramatic n escape by a British soldier kidnapped by armed men in Kuwait on Sunday.

Pt Peter Walker, of the Royal Logistic Corps, was seized in civilian clothes on his way to a pizza shop, but managed to break free and run into a nearby building. He was only rescued after hurling himself into the street from a first floor balcony.

The Ministry of Defence said the incident was being jointly investigated by officers from the Kuwaiti and Royal Military Police.

ANALYSIS

CHRIS HUGHES, Security Correspondent, on the British lives that were lost so democracy could take a foothold in Babaji

THE election in Helmand Province was never going to be easy.

Operation Panther's Claw cleared a huge area the size of the Isle of Wight which had been teeming with Taliban.

But the fanatics threatened reprisals against voters, scaring many away from the polls.

Some voters got off lightly with merely a finger chopped off - because it was ink-daubed to show they had voted. That anyone at all got out of bed and took the terrifying walk to vote anywhere in Helmand was an act of supreme bravery and pride.

That just 150 voted in Babaji - where a possible 25,000 could have turned out - is a huge pity but hardly a surprise.

A total of 10 British lives were lost. But the polls were open and the results are being counted. It may not be an election as we know it but at least it is a start.