the british armed forces protect the united kingdom, the british overseas territories and the crown dependencies. they also take part in united nations peacekeeping missions. the british armed forces often take part in nato missions. the most recent wars the british armed forces have fought are the wars in afghanistan and iraq, operation palliser, peacekeeping in the balkans and cyprus, and defending the no-fly zone over libya. the british armed forces have bases in the following places: ascension island, belize, brunei, canada, diego garcia, the falkland islands, germany, gibraltar, kenya, qatar and the sovereign base areas (cyprus).