UK ups spending to protect troops in Afghanistan war
0 Comments
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday that Britain will provide 150 million pounds (about 240 million U.S. dollars) to upgrade training to detect roadside bombs over next three years.
Brown's remarks came amid growing public anger at Britain's rising death toll in Afghanistan, caused largely by improvised explosive devices (IED) planted by Taliban militants.
Over the last year the Taliban have increasingly used explosive devices rather than fight the British army face to face and the types of devices are always changing, Brown added that "so to deal with that threat we have increased our specialist forces, our electronic surveillance, our intelligence and our hand held detectors and we have dismantled around 1,500 IEDs in the recent months."
He also confirmed that 68 international delegations would attend the January conference in London, including all military partners and other regional powers and he expected other nations to announce further troop deployments in Afghanistan.
Brown said "he hoped to get more support for our Afghanistan strategy to train, mentor and partner the Afghan security forces and to help the economy and people of Afghanistan to get a bigger stake in their own future. President Karzai will bring forward his plan for the future of Afghanistan for discussion at the conference."
The prime minister paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Sunday where he met with British forces and held talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Afghan authorities.
During a webchat on Monday morning, Brown said "I met Afghan troops being trained by British troops in Helmand yesterday. They came from every region of Afghanistan and showed it is possible to build a national army that is both professional and united. They are ready to take on the Taliban and the Afghan army will rise in number to 135,000 over the next year. And I discussed this very issue with the president of Afghanistan and the defense minister who are committed to this strategy."
Brown said a stable Afghanistan means a safer Britain. It is right to train their forces, police and security services so they can take control of the security of their country for themselves.
"The issue is the Afghan army, security forces and police gradually taking control and it is at that point that our forces can start to come home," he said.
"We have a job to do to destroy the attempt by al-Qaida to attack the streets of Britain and to prevent the Taliban from offering them safehaven in Afghanistan. We have just stepped up the number of forces dedicated to this job and are now training the Afghan forces so they can take on the role of maintaining the security," he said.
On corruption, Brown said "President Karzai has given me and the international community assurances that he will work to tackle corruption and at the London Conference on Jan. 28 next year we will be asking him for updates on progress. Of course it is about delivery not just words and we will be vigilant in seeking action. "
Comments