BRITAIN'S 7000-strong garrison in Helmand province, Afghanistan, has only one qualified linguist who speaks fluent Pashto, the local language, The Herald can reveal.

Six years and 52 British deaths after the first UK troops helped liberate the country from the Taliban, there are still only 25 official Pashto speakers in the entire Army.

While every soldier from privates to brigadiers sent to Helmand receives tuition in basic conversational phrases to allow them to pass the time of day with locals, only one officer has passed a recognised oral exam which would enable him to question prisoners.

The UK units remain dependent on locally-recruited interpreters and members of the Afghan security forces.

An experienced officer said: "Given the tribal loyalities of many of Pashtun volunteers - the same group which provides the Taliban with most of its footsoldiers - there are no guarantees that more complex exchanges are being translated accurately or free from bias."

The Ministry of Defence said: "All regular and reserve service personnel deploying on operations receive some level of language training."

Meanwhile, three Taliban suicide bombers killed themselves and two people and wounded a dozen others in separate attacks yesterday.

In Spin Boldak, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a police checkpoint, killing a policeman and a bystander.

Two suicide bombers killed themselves in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand. One attacker reportedly targeted a Nato convoy, but wounded two Afghan bystanders. A soldier was wounded in the other attack in the city.