The Belfast Telegraph has been invited to join the Royal Irish Regiment in Afghanistan’s notorious Helmand Province and in a series of special reports next week journalist Lesley-Anne Henry will give an insight into life on the front line.

More than 500 soldiers from Northern Ireland are now five months into a tour of duty in one of the world’s most dangerous war zones.

Troops from the Royal Irish 1st battalion are serving alongside the 2nd and 3rd battalion of the Parachute Regiment and 5 Royal Scots to form the 16 Air Assault Brigade.

Led by Lieutenant Colonel Ed Freely, the regiment, whose motto is ‘Faugh-a-ballagh’ (Clear the Way) have been leading the way in the operation known as ‘Tellic 8’.

Soldiers from the Royal Irish 2nd battalion are providing protection at the British Army’s biggest military base in Helmand province — Camp Bastion.

And earlier this week they were joined by 62 TA reservists from 204 Squadron (North Irish) Field Hospital who will be providing medical assistance at the base.

The troops left their base at Tern Hill in Shropshire on St Patrick’s Day and have spent the past five months in one of the most inhospitable parts of the planet.

They are helping to train the Afghans, including counter-insurgency techniques to be used against the Taliban in the north of the Helmand province.

This is the second time troops from Northern Ireland have taken a position on the Afghan front line. In July 2006 they lost three men during fierce fighting. Ranger Draiva Anare (27) and Lance Corporal Paul Muirhead (29) were killed during an attack on a military base in Musa Quala while Lance Corporal Luke McCullough (21) died when Taliban insurgents attacked his patrol in Sangin, Helmand. Another 12 soldiers were seriously wounded on the same tour.

Last year, the Belfast Telegraph joined the Royal Irish as it took part in a six-week live firing exercise in the searing heat of the Kenyan desert designed specifically to train them for their Afghan deployment.

At that time Colonel Freely described it as a privilege to take his troops into battle.

“We have been chosen and selected to undertake this operational mentor liaison and training role which is a really significant piece in trying to progress the problems that the Afghan nation faces.

“Our role sees us being embedded with the Afghan National Army and taking the fight to the Taliban, but also training them,” he said.

“So it’s a combined role. We are not only fighting with them, but we are seeking to develop their capabilities for the long term so that eventually we can disengage at a point where they are capable to run the country themselves.”

Northern Ireland politicians including First Minister Peter Robinson, his DUP colleague Jeffrey Donaldson and Ulster Unionist Lord Ken Maginnis made a visit to the troops in Afghanistan last month.

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