London, August 17: Prime Minister has Gordon Brown affirmed Britain’s commitment to Afghanistan, on a weekend in which roadside bombs killed five more soldiers, pushing the UK death toll past 200.
The grim milestone has reignited debate about the heavy human cost of a conflict the government claims is vital to defeating terrorism but that critics say is unwinnable.
The Ministry of Defence said three soldiers from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers died after they were attacked while on patrol yesterday near Sangin in Helmand Province. They brought Britain’s death toll in the country to 204.
Two other British soldiers died Saturday.
Brown said it had been “a very difficult summer,” but insisted the troops’ presence in Afghanistan was keeping Britain safe.
13 British troops have been killed so far in August, and 22 died in July, Britain’s bloodiest month since the invasion of Afghanistan soon after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
“Three-quarters of the terrorist plots that hit Britain derive from the mountain areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan and it is to make Britain safe and the rest of the world safe that we must make sure we honour our commitment to maintain a stable Afghanistan,” Brown said.
-Agencies