A SOLDIER serving with a bomb disposal team in Afghanistan is counting down the days until he is reunited with his family.

Sergeant Tony Howley, from the Fairfield area of Bury, is fast approaching the end of his seven months in the country where he is an integral part of the Counter IED (Improvised Explosive Device) Task Force.

The former Broad Oak High pupil has spoken of the daily dangers he and his colleagues face.

He said: “The whole C-IED team does an amazing job, saving the lives of British troops and Afghan civilians alike.

“However, when one of our guys is killed by these devices, it hits us hard. We have to be thick skinned.

“I have been with the bomb disposal regiment for three years and fatalities are not something that we have had to experience up until now.

“We have been very fortunate in that respect.While the attrition rate has been difficult to deal with, we don’t let it beat us.

“We are a close-knit team right across the board. We will always remember those who have been killed but for now we have to concentrate on the job in hand. We will take time to mourn them when we get home.”

The 38-year-old arrived in Afghanistan last September and helped to get the inaugural Counter IED Task Force headquarters in Lashkar Gah up and running.

Sgt Howley said: “The tour has been satisfying, tinged with the sadness of the guys we have lost.

“The finds they have made elates us and there is a satisfaction that when I see the statistics every week that I know that we are making a difference. It’s a long battle.”

This is Sgt Howley’s second tour of Afghanistan. In 2005 he was serving Mazar-e-sharif in northern Afghanistan with what is now the Mercian Regiment. Prior to this, he completed two tours in Bosnia and Kosovo.

He said: “I joined the Royal Engineers as a 16-year-old in 1987 and served with them for 10 years, primarily in Germany and Northern Ireland.

“In 1999 I transferred to the Adjutant General’s Corps and haven’t looked back.

“I have just signed up for an extra eight years service, which has given me certainty and stability for the future.

“I only have a couple of weeks left here before I go back to Bury to see my mother Bernadette, and my younger brothers, Martin and Adrian.

“After that, I have five weeks leave. I am going diving in Germany with a mate and then off to Australia to see a friend out there.”