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UK to consider more troops for Afghanistan, says Miliband

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Nov 26, IRNA
UK-Afghanistan
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrived in southern Afghanistan Tuesday, saying that the UK may further boost its 8,100 troops in Afghanistan despite earlier reports suggesting there were no such plans.

In a BBC radio interview, Miliband said the British government will consider any request from US President-Elect Barack Obama to send more troops to the country.

"Any question of more troops depends on what they would do and whether they are part of a genuinely comprehensive strategy," he said.

Obama has specified that Afghanistan will be the focus of his foreign policy and has pledged an Iraq-style "surge" of US troops, calling on NATO members to increase their commitments to defeat the Taliban and stabilize Afghanistan.

Britain is planning to start to withdraw most of its remaining 4,000 troops from Iraq early next year, but previous reports have suggested none would be transferred to Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defence was said to be insisting that it wanted to consolidate the country's overstretched armed forces after fighting on two fronts for over five years.

Miliband said he had not seen any detailed proposals for more troops yet, but insisted that ministers would consider the question carefully.

"The Ministry of Defence organizes these assessments. It does so in a very systematic way. We're not gong to do it by plucking numbers out of the air," he said.

But while he did not rule out Britain boosting its deployment, he also insisted that other European countries should "share the burden" in Afghanistan by sending more troops. He said the UK wants "a fair effort from the whole of the international community."

Just prior to the foreign secretary's arrival, the Ministry of Defence announced that another British serviceman was killed in southern Afghanistan, bringing the total since 2001 to 126, including 119 who have died since 2006.

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