British prime minister Gordon Brown flew in to Afghanistan today to tour a recently captured Taliban stronghold as controversy grew in Britain over whether he had adequately resourced British forces.
With an election no more than three months away, a fierce debate is taking place in Britain over whether British forces have been properly equipped to fight the Iraq and Afghan wars.
Mr Brown sparked renewed debate yesterday when he gave testimony to an official inquiry investigating Britain's involvement in the Iraq war.
In Afghanistan, Mr Brown told British soldiers in Laskhar Gah, Helmand's capital, that his government would do "everything we can to support you with the equipment necessary and the resources you need."
He visited British troops at two front-line bases in the Nad Ali area of southern Afghanistan to thank them for their role in a major three-week-old offensive against Taliban insurgents.
US, British, Afghan and other forces have taken part in Operation Mushtarak, one of the first major tests of US President Barack Obama's plan to add 30,000 troops to win control of Taliban strongholds.
Britain's opposition Conservatives and some ex-generals accuse Mr Brown - through 10 years as finance minister and three as prime minister - of denying military funds needed for vital equipment such as helicopters and armoured vehicles.
The Conservatives, who lead in opinion polls, accused Mr Brown of rushing to visit troops to divert attention from his testimony to the Iraq inquiry.
Mr Brown has denied it, saying he had planned the visit - almost certainly his last before the election - for some time.
"It's really important to come at this stage to see what progress has been made on this first operation under a new phase of action in Afghanistan," he told reporters on arrival at Camp Bastion, a military base in the southern province of Helmand.
Mr Brown told the Iraq inquiry yesterday that joining the 2003 US-led invasion had been the right decision and denied he had left the military short of funding. But his testimony was disputed by several former military commanders.
"To say Gordon Brown has given the military all they asked for is simply not true," Charles Guthrie, a former chief of the defence staff, told The Daily Telegraph.
Families of some British soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq have said inadequate equipment led to unnecessary deaths. Another British soldier was killed in Helmand on Saturday, bringing the total that died in Afghanistan to 269.
Mr Brown has been at pains since becoming prime minister to increase the supply of armoured vehicles and helicopters to Britain's 9,500 troops in Afghanistan.
One of the main criticisms has been over the use in Iraq and Afghanistan of lightly armoured Snatch Land Rovers, which critics say give too little protection from bombs. At least 37 British soldiers have been killed in them since 2005.
Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth will soon announce plans to buy some 200 new vehicles, at a cost of more than £100 million, to replace Snatch Land Rovers, a British government official said.
They should enter service by late 2011, he said. Britain will also send 150 new instructors to train Afghan police, almost doubling the 100 to 150 already there. Britain and other NATO countries are stepping up training of Afghan security forces so NATO troops can eventually withdraw.
Reuters