Among the Northern Ireland soldiers working ‘arm in arm’ with the Afghan National Army are men from 1 Royal Irish Operational Mentor Liaison Team (OMLT 2) – who are helping to build up the troops’ weapon skills.

The Belfast Telegraph caught up with the soldiers on an open range in the searing heat of the ‘Red Desert’ where they were teaching the Afghans of 2 Kandak (2nd Company) to use the new American M16 rifle.

Working in the most debilitating conditions — where without a wind, temperatures can easily top 50 degrees Celsius — they are helping the Afghans to switch from their old weapon of choice, the Russian made AK47 assault rifles.

Sgt John Harding (31) from east Belfast, who is on his second tour of Helmand, has been mentoring 2 Kandak since March. In 2006 he was among 105 troops who flew out to Afghanistan in 2006 to support 3 Parachute Regiment who at that time were undermanned.

Sgt Harding and his troops recently returned from a two-month stint in Musa Qal’eh — the scene of Helmand’s fiercest fighting.

“I’ve had them on operations in Musa Qala’eh for two months and have brought them back to the main camp as part of the training cycle — every five or six months they come back for six weeks. Our main effort is to enable them to use the M16 rifles,” he said.

“In general they are making good progress but you’ve got to understand that it’s a very fledgling army.

He said his troops had helped to make a difference in the once notorious Musa Qal’eh region.

“It’s very different now because there are people there. When I was first there it was a complete war zone, there was fighting constantly for three months but now there has been so much progress made.

“There are still attacks on the town but they are certainly nowhere near as frequent. Musa Qal’eh used to be a real Taliban stronghold. Now the people have said ‘you know what, the Taliban are no good for us – we are better off siding with the British’. That’s what counter insurgency is all about. It takes a long time to get any sort of success.”

He noted that the Northern Irish lads were getting on well with the Afghans, adding: “The Royal Irish can get on with anybody as long as they’ve got a sense of humour and these guys certainly have a sense of humour.”

Ranger William Galloway (18) from Dundonald, who is on his first tour of Afghanistan was also instructing the soldiers on the range.

“From the first day to now you can see a big difference in how the ANA are improving,” he said.

Signaller Peter Sewell, from Dromore, Co Down said he was surprised by the Afghan capabilities.

“You hear all the rumours about how they weren’t that good but it’s not true,” he said.

He said there were two-way benefits from working so closely with the locals – in particular the Afghans’ ability to pick out insurgents.

Signaller Sewell, who also served in Iraq said the “tempo” in Afghanistan was completely different.

“The threat here is constant. We were out on patrol and a landmine with a spider device attached to it exploded. That’s when the reality of the situation really kicked in.”