London , England ( CNN ) -- British troops will pull out of the notorious Sangin district of Afghanistan 's Helmand province to allow U.S. Marines to take over , British Defense Secretary Liam Fox said Wednesday . The British forces will redeploy to the central part of Helmand , leading the task force with Danish and Estonian troops there , while U.S. troops are positioned in the northern and southern parts , Fox said . `` This will simplify current command arrangements , '' Fox told the House of Commons . `` The result will be a coherent and equitable division of the main populated areas of Helmand between three brigade-size forces . '' NATO 's International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF ) closely consulted Britain about the plan , and British officials `` fully support '' it , Fox said . `` In Sangin , UK forces have made huge progress in the face of great adversity , '' he said . `` The district center has been transformed . Helmand as a whole is a safer place as a result of our endeavors and sacrifices there . '' The switch of command in Sangin is in no way a defeat for British troops , but simply works well militarily , said Michael Clarke , director of the Royal United Services Institute , an independent defense and security think tank in London . `` It never made much military sense to put troops into the northern areas of Sangin , Musa Qala and Kajacki in the first place , '' Clarke said , `` but in 2006 they were sent there at the insistence of ( Afghan ) President ( Hamid ) Karzai , and once established , any pullback would have represented a victory for the Taliban . '' With the arrival of 18,000 U.S. Marines in the region by the end of August , it makes sense for the British troops to reorganize themselves and reinforce their numbers in central Helmand , Clarke said . It will make the British force more effective and safer , he said . The political fallout of the move , however , is unpredictable , Clarke said . When the British ended operations in the southern Iraqi city of Basra last year , it was under similar circumstances , but still appeared as a `` furtive retreat , '' he said . `` The image at home that Britain was giving up a job it could no longer handle was impossible to shake off , '' Clarke said . `` The same may attach to Sangin . This war is as much about image and perception as it is about who controls the ground in Afghanistan . ''
U.S. Marines troops to leave Sangin of Sangin 's Afghanistan . U.S. Marines will take over in Afghanistan , British defense secretary says . British forces will move to central part of Helmand . NEW : Analyst says move is not a defeat and that it makes sense .