South Asia News

Brown in Afghanistan on unannounced visit

Dec 13, 2009, 14:47 GMT

A file undated handout photograph released on 16 July 2009 by the British Ministry of Defence showing An RAF Chinook helicopter lands during a resupply to ground forces during operation Panther\'s Claw as they secure the Malgir and Babaji areas, in Ahghanistan. EPA/SGT DAN HARMER / BRITISH MINISTRY OF DEFENCE / HANDOUT

Kabul - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during an unannounced visit to Afghanistan Sunday held talks with President Hamid Karzai in the volatile south of the country, an Afghan government official said.

Their meeting took place at a military airport in Kandahar, where Brown had spent the night after visiting British troops in Helmand Province, according to an official from the presidential palace.

This year, around 9,500 British troops have been engaged in some of the fiercest fighting in Helmand, where most of them are stationed. Around 100 British soldiers have been killed in the area so far this year. A total of 237 British soldiers have been killed in the Afghan conflict since their deployment following the ouster of Taliban regime in late 2001.

Brown recently ordered 500 additional troops to Afghanistan where they are expected to join some 30,000 additional US troops and around 6,500 soldiers from other NATO members by next summer.

The extra soldiers would come on the top of 110,000 international soldiers already stationed in Afghanistan and are expected to significantly boost international efforts at turning the tide against Taliban militants.

Brown is the first Western leader to meet Karzai in Afghanistan since his re-election last month following polls that were marred by widespread fraud. Karzai has been under pressure from his country's Western allies to combat the rampant corruption in his administration.

The US President Barack Obama has set summer 2011 as the start date for the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, while other NATO countries are expected to set timeframes for their military engagement in the war-torn country at a London conference in January.

The allied leaders have vowed to accelerate the training and equipping of the Afghan police and military in order for them to take over the security responsibility for their country when the NATO forces are phased out.