British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is defending his country's mission
in Afghanistan, after eight British soldiers were killed in a 24-hour
period.
In a letter to British lawmakers, Mr. Brown said despite
recent casualties, British military commanders in Afghanistan are
succeeding in their objectives. He said the course being undertaken is
the right one.
Earlier on Saturday, British Foreign Minister
David Miliband said Britain will not be safe until it has established
security in Afghanistan. He said British troops in Afghanistan are
fighting for the "future of Britain," adding that the border area
between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been used to launch deadly attacks
on his country and the United States.
Eight British soldiers
were killed Friday in separate incidents in Afghanistan. The
casualties bring Britain's death toll in Afghanistan to 184, five more
than the number of British deaths in the Iraq war.
More than
8,000 British troops are fighting in the southern Afghan province of
Helmand, alongside thousands of U.S. Marines in a major offensive
against Taliban militants.
Elsewhere in southern Afghanistan,
the interior ministry said Saturday that Afghan police and U.S.-led
coalition forces killed 19 suspected militants in two separate clashes
in the Charchino district of Uruzgan province.
Separately, officials say four Afghan security guards were killed in an insurgent attack in Ghazni province on Saturday.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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