Troops pave the way for an exit strategy

In a breathtakingly beautiful mountain valley several miles from Kabul, Colour Sergeant Paul Hogan is doing his best to get Britain out of Afghanistan.

Around him, Afghan National Army soldiers are being shown how to lead platoon attacks in preparation for taking on the Taliban without the support of Nato forces. The sound of gunfire crackles as troops scurry across sun-scorched earth.

This is the Kabul military training centre. It is the key to the withdrawal of Nato forces from Afghanistan - the "exit strategy". The target to train 134,000 Afghans has been brought forward to the end of this year.

And on the ground, the task is largely in the hands of 68 British soldiers - 32 of them Territorial Army reservists such as 46-year-old C/Sgt Hogan. They aim to train 16,000 Afghan officers and non-commissioned officers a year.

C/Sgt Hogan has spent 26 years in the TA and worked for a company in Leeds making flags and banners before being made redundant last year. After last November's attack on British forces by a renegade Afghan policeman that left five dead, C/Sgt Hogan, from 4 Yorkshire Battalion, is cautious on the training ground. He wears body armour and a helmet and has his rifle at his side.

There is also the risk of recent Taliban converts. "You never trust them," says C/Sgt Hogan. The training has been doubled from two to four weeks, with other six-week courses to follow as required. But a problem is the lack of literacy among trainees. The mentoring is not done directly with the Afghan trainees but via an interpreter through their unit commanders - themselves often ex-Mujahideen.

"We won't be here for ever," says C/Sgt Hogan. "We want to be able to leave them in capable hands so they can take their army to a standard they can defend their country from terrorists. Some are really keen to learn - they are really keen to advance. But discipline is a problem."

The training unit's second in command is Major Anthony Atkinson-Willes, who speaks Pashtu and Dari. The officer, aged 54, from Marlborough, is a reservist with the 4th Battalion, Mercians. He said: "The idea is that we grow the military capacity to provide the security for the Afghan government to develop the infrastructure and the rule of law.

"If the government can persuade the people that they offer a better deal than the Taliban, then they will start to replace the Taliban."