Army's retreat over firing range

Today, and for the best part of a decade, their deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq has seen hundreds of young men and women sacrifice their lives to safeguard the liberty that so many people take for granted. They continue to face inordinate risks, with the latest

fatality confirmed yesterday.

As such, it is vital that this mission is successful, and that our troops are properly prepared for the conditions that they will face when they go into theatre.

Yet they find themselves on the back foot, with the Ministry of Defence apologising, after Bradford Council for Mosques complained that structures used on an Army firing range at Catterick Garrison resembled mosques.

Though it disagrees with the Council's interpretation – the MoD maintains that the structures in question were "generic Eastern buildings" that were not used as target practice – officials deserve credit for swiftly acknowledging that some offence could have been caused.

That said, it is also incumbent upon the Muslim community to recognise the difficult job faced by UK soldiers in Afghanistan, and elsewhere, and that their training for such a hazardous deployment needs to be as realistic as possible.

The British Army's principal job is to prepare its troops for duty, and it is disappointing that military training might have the potential to undermine community relations.

One way forward is for more people from Muslim backgrounds to join the Army, and it is imperative that this disagreement does not jeopardise the progress that military chiefs have made in recruiting young people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

The fine example set by the Victoria Cross-winning soldier, Lance

Corporal Johnson Beharry, is testament to the inclusivity of the military. And the best way for reducing the security threat in Afghanistan, and here in Britain, is for people from all backgrounds to work alongside the Armed Forces as they seek to make the world a much safer place.