Star News supports our armed stars in Afghanistan.

Hi, I'm Louise Bostock from Star News. I've spent a week with Catterick based 4th Mechanized Brigade and other North Yorkshire based troops, in one of the most hostile places in the world.

As they prepare to come home in the next few weeks, hear and watch as our boys and girls talk to me about the jobs they've been doing and how they've coped with being away from their loved ones.

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SURVIVNG A DEADLY THREAT

With the death toll mounting in the war torn country,  we've been finding out what's being done to protect our troops from one of the biggest threats, the Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs.

These roadside bombs have been responsible for the huge number of British lives lost.

Fresh efforts to counter the IEDs are now being used by British forces to keep patrolling troops safe.

In the video below are soldiers from 15 Field Support Squadron Tallisman, part of North Yorkshire based 21 Royal Engineers, looking for IEDs, clearing a road and making it safe for patrolling troops.

Despite the growing number of troops being killed by IEDs, many have survived thanks to the good work carried out by many others. Listen below to hear accounts by some of our region's soldiers who have lived to tell the tale.

PATROLLING KANDAHAR'S MEAN STREETS

It's described as one of the most dangerous cities in the world, where kids are used as suicide bombers and trained as soldiers.

Kandahar City in Southern Afghanistan is home to 1.2 million people and remains the insurgents most significant stronghold, but the Taliban's grip on power here is slowly waning.

Based at Kandahar Air Base, one of the squadron's from the Royal Dragoon Guards have spent the last few months patrolling Kandahar City.

I joined the troops as they prepared to head out one morning and they showed me around one of their heavily armoured vehicles, the Ridgeback.

TRIBUTES TO A FALLEN COMRADE

With the number of British lives being lost in the conflict now standing at 345, the human cost of war's becoming ever more real.

And for Catterick based Royal Dragoon Guards, it's been a very difficult tour. The armoured unit which has the difficult job of patrolling one of the most dangerous parts of Southern Afghanistan has lost four soldiers between June and July.

They are Trooper Ashley Smith, Trooper James Leverett, Sergeant David Monkhouse and Corporal Matthew Stenton.

Corporal Matthew Stenton's best made Trooper Robson still deeply misses him. Hear his interview with me below.

Each time a service personnel loses their life, Camp Bastion holds a service on a stretch of land in the centre of the camp, and anyone not on duty has to attend.

It's an opportunity for the military to pay their respects and mark the soldier being moved from the hospital to the airfield. A smaller repatriation ceremony is later held there just for the losing unit where the body is flown back to RAF Lyneham.

LIFE IN CAMP

Camp Bastion, home to around 9000 British troops for six months of the year.

They share the base with many nationalities, including the Danes, the Americans and the Estonians, making a grand total of fourteen and a half thousand troops calling it home.

Camp Bastion was built in 2006 and lies in the middle of the desert, and continues to be built today as more troops make their way to help in the war.

Its air movement makes it the 7th busiest airfield in the UK.

Life inside Camp Bastion is made as comfortable as possible for the troops based there...boasting a coffee shop and even Pizza Hut. Some of the tents even have air conditioning, heating and a fully equipped gym.

Medical treatment on the battlefield has improved dramatically, with the training and the distribution of life saving equipment such as tourniquets.

Medics, most with infantry experience go out with the troops on the frontline and give urgent medical care, saving as many of the war wounded as possible.

And as more of our soldiers are seriously wounded in Afghanistan, medics will do all they can in the line of duty to keep soldiers alive.

KEEPING TROOPS SAFE IN CAMP BASTION

Despite Camp Bastion being in the middle of the desert, the threat of attack is still a real danger.

Escorted by a Force Protection team, I took my first trip outside the wire to see what is being done to protect our troops from an attack. Sniffer dogs and the latest security equipment are all used to search lorries and every person at the gates.

Back in 2009, a suicide bomber blew himself up near to the entrance of the camp. Luckily there were no injuries but the threat is still as real today as it was back then.

An Afghan interpreter stands with the soldiers at the check point to talk to locals who come onto the base.

The video below shows how the base is kept safe at the Gates of Camp Bastion.

LONG JOURNEY HOME

As the thousands of Catterick based troops start to make their journey back to the UK in the next few weeks, attentions will be drawn to those who won't be coming back with them.

However, for the families who've been left at home worrying if their loved ones will return safely, emotional times still lie ahead.