AFP | More than two-thirds of Britons believe British troops should be pulled out of Afghanistan next year, according to an opinion poll released on Wednesday.
Sixty-eight percent said Britain should withdraw while 24 percent said British soldiers should stay in the violence-wrecked country.
Britain has over 8,000 troops in Afghanistan, largely battling Taliban insurgents in the south and more than 120 British servicemen have been killed.
Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, visiting London on Wednesday, called for the international coalition to deploy more combat troops to the south, where the fighting is most intense.
His British counterpart David Miliband, backed his call, saying Britain was looking for increased “burden sharing” from its NATO allies.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Tuesday that Britain would consider sending more troops to Afghanistan if US president-elect Barack Obama commits more US soldiers in an Iraq-style ‘surge’ operation to crush the insurgents.