Britain’s ministry of defence revealed on Thursday that the costs of UK military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq have soared significantly in the current financial year, reaching £4.5bn ($6.5bn), an increase of more than 50 per cent on the previous year.

According to the Ministry of Defence, UK operations in Afghanistan accounted for more than half of the £4.5bn figure, at £2.6bn for 2008-09. This compared to costs of £1.5bn to pay for operations in Afghanistan in the financial year 2007-08.