London, July 13: A survey published Monday showed that public opinion in Britain for the Afghanistan campaign is evenly divided, while support has increased since troops were deployed in Helmand province in 2006.
The survey, carried out by ICM for The Guardian newspaper at the end of last week, when eight soldiers died within 24 hours, found that support for Britain’s role stood at 46 per cent.
The figure is up by 15 per cent from 2006, when the same question was last asked.
Opposition to the war stood at 47 per cent, a drop of 6 per cent over the same period, according to Monday’s poll.
It also showed that 42 per cent of respondents were in favour of the immediate withdrawal of British troops, with another 14 per cent wanting them home by the end of the year.
Just 6 per cent of the people asked said they had “no idea” why British troops had been sent to Afghanistan. Four-fifths believed that the conflict was part of the international fight against al-Qaeda and 58 per cent thought Britain was there to fight the illegal drugs trade.
——Agencies