London, November 12: Nearly half of Britons think the military campaign in Afghanistan is actually increasing the threat of a terrorist attack on home soil, a poll said today, amid rising public criticism of the war.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government and military leaders have argued that defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan will help reduce the risk of an attack by extremists in the region against Britain and other Western countries.
But only 21 per cent surveyed supported that view, while 46 percent said the conflict was in fact increasing the threat by creating anger and resentment among the Muslim population, according to the GFK NOP poll.
Another 14 per cent believed it was making no difference to the threat, while 19 per cent said they did not know either way, the poll for the Independent newspaper said.
–PTI