Costs of British military operations in Afghanistan estimated at £18bn

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Source: The Guardian

The cost of British military operations in Afghanistan is now officially estimated at more than £18bn, figures released on Thursday show. The cost of imposing a no-fly zone and bombing targets in Libya is so far officially estimated at £260m.

The figures are contained in a report by the Commons defence committee which makes it clear the sums are no more than estimates. "The total cost of operations in Afghanistan is not known", it states. The Ministry of Defence told the committee: "It is too early accurately to forecast the cost of UK operations in Libya".

The defence committee revealed that the MoD estimates that military operations in Afghanistan this year will cost more than £4bn.

However, the figures for Afghanistan , and the £260m estimated for Libya - more than half spent on bombs and missiles - are described as "additional costs" of operations to be paid for by the Treasury out its reserves.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jul/28/afghanistan-libya-costs-military