A Grenadier Guardsman from the British Forces South Atlantic Islands (Image: UK MOD Crown copyright)
British forces in the Falklands were on full alert last night after Argentina vowed to recapture the islands.
A crack team of soldiers has been placed on round-the-clock standby to intercept any attempt to make a grab for land in the South Atlantic.
Vigilance was stepped up after Sir ’s humiliating surrender of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius emboldened the Buenos Aires regime, with Argentina’s foreign minister Diana Mondino boasting: “We will recover the full sovereignty of Las Malvinas.”
Last night, a special Army unit with tracker dogs was on 24-hour standby, braced for a secret operation which would see Argentinian special forces land on the islands which were last invaded in 1982 and recovered at a cost of 255 British lives.
Falklands War veteran Simon Weston, who suffered horrific injuries when the troop carrier Sir Galahad was sunk by Argentinian fighter jets, accused the PM of “poor judgment”.
“It was a mis-step for to give away the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which is aligned with China, and it does make me wonder where it will stop,” he said.
“I can understand why Falkland Islanders are worried. It doesn’t take much to reassure them by stating publicly the Falkland Islands are not up for grabs – it’s called leadership – but he hasn’t done this. I think it shows a lack of respect to them.
“Those islanders deserve to go to bed at night and sleep soundly.”
Former Foreign Secretary and Tory leadership candidate blasted the Government for handing over the Chagos Islands.
“Labour, just as they did with the junior doctors, just as they did with the train drivers, just as they did with the civil service around winter fuel payments, have rolled over,” he said.
And former Tory Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois said: “We fought a war back in 1982, in which many British servicemen died, to uphold sovereignty over the Falklands and it’s only Labour’s completely barmy decision over the Chagos Islands which has now reignited the false Argentinian claim.
“This government is just utterly naïve when it comes to security and foreign policy, as each passing week sadly shows.”
With the smell of a diplomatic win now in the water, however, the fear is not that Argentina will mount a military invasion, sources say.
Rather, the concern is that it will try to humiliate the UK by sending a special forces team to plant Argentina’s flag in a prominent location on West Falkland.
Based at RAF Mount Pleasant, a so-called “find and fight” unit was formed during the last administration of nationalist president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. It came after an unopposed landing on West Falkland by 20 members of the SBS in 2015 as part of a test of the islands’ defences.
The team consists of 20 crack troops with several Belgian Malinois patrol dogs, trained to seek and detain saboteurs and invaders.
Although the hope is that a firefight will be avoided, the order of the day is “no flag will be raised”, senior sources say.
Defences of the islands now include two sophisticated Sabre ground-based air defence systems, 150 soldiers and four RAF Typhoon fighter jets.
But maritime protection is woeful. Waters around the Falklands were once patrolled by a frigate or destroyer with anti-ship and air defence missiles.
Now the task has been relegated to a single offshore patrol vessel, HMS Forth, with one 30mm cannon.
The decision on the Chagos islands, taken without parliamentary consultation, spurred Argentina’s foreign minister Diana Mondino to declare: “The long dispute between Britain and Mauritius has come to a conclusion – we welcome this step in the right direction and the end to outdated practices.
“With concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty of Las Malvinas.”
The statement was endorsed by minority President Javier Milei.
Argentina’s Diana Mondino (Image: Getty)
Argentina has already signed a deal to buy sophisticated Danish F-16 fighter jets, which would threaten Britain’s control of Falklands airspace when they are delivered.
In 2017, plans for a similar Argentinian operation were leaked by an officer attached to the country’s 601st Aircraft Supply and Maintenance Battalion.
That night-time mission had prepared to send 14 commandos and an official photographer aboard two Bell Huey II helicopters to fly low to a remote part of the British territory.
Images of Argentina’s flag planted on British soil would then be published in the days leading to crucial mid-term elections in the country.
The operation was to have been launched from Argentina’s Isla de dos Estados – just 213 miles from West Falkland. The plan was quashed by President Mauricio Macri.
Simon Weston, the Falklands veteran who overcame horrific facial injuries (Image: PA)
Last week’s opportunistic reaction to the Chagos deal was anticipated, with former MP and Chagos expert Daniel Kawczynski warning that “Argentine would be licking its lips” following the sudden announcement.
Speaking last night he said: “Our relationship with our 16 Overseas territories is predicted on the fundamental and irrefutable concept of the right to self determination.
“In handing the Chagos islands to Mauritius, a foreign entity 1,200 miles away, is telling Chagossians, who were expelled in 1868 and sent to Seychelles, Mauritius and UK and fervently wanted to return, that he doesn’t care about them.
“If he can turn the concept of self-determination on its head like this in Chagos, we can expect Argentina to be licking its lips, This is the chink in the armour they have been waiting for.”
With Sir refusing to say whether he would sign away other territories, it was left to Falkland Islands Governor Alison Blake to reassure islanders.
She said: “The UK Government remains committed to defending the Falkland Islanders’ right of self-determination, and the UK’s unwavering commitment to defend UK sovereignty remains undiminished.”
An MoD spokesman said: “We have robust plans in place to defend the Falklands.
“British sovereignty of the Falkland Islands is not up for negotiation.”
HMS Forth pictured during a British Forces South Atlantic Islands joint exercise (Image: UK MOD Crown copyright)