UK Deploys Additional 1,200 Troops to Secure Olympic Games
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MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/Getty Images(LONDON) — With just three days to go before the summer Olympics kick off in London, the British government has decided to deploy an additional 1,200 troops who were on standby to boost security at the Games.
The move comes after private security contractor G4S failed to deliver enough guards for the event.
With the added troops, the number of British military personnel tasked with securing the Games is up to nearly 18,000 — almost twice the amount of troops the U.K. sends to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban.
In a statement Tuesday, Olympics Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the decision to take the troops out of standby was more of a precaution.
“On the eve of the largest peacetime event ever staged in this country, Ministers are clear that we should leave nothing to chance,” Hunt said. “The Government continues to have every confidence that we will deliver a safe and secure Games.”
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