British Prime Minister Gordon Brown reiterated on Saturday that his country would continue its fight against terrorism in Afghanistan, support democracy in the war-wracked country and help the Western-backed government to root out endemic corruption, according to dpa. Brown arrived on a surprise visit to Afghanistan Saturday morning and met with Afghan officials including President Hamid Karzai after touring southern Helmand province, where he met his country's troops. In a joint press conference at the Afghan fortified presidential palace, Brown told reporters that international community would not allow the Taliban and their allies in al-Qaeda network to "defy the democratic will of the Afghan people". He pledged 10 million dollars to help with the voter registration process for forthcoming presidential election slated for autumn next year. Brown also said that his country would send a multi-agency task force to tackle corruption that has plagued Karzai's administration. The Taliban-led violence has reached to a record level this year, with international forces sustained more casualties in 2008 than any year since the ouster of Taliban regime in late 2001. The Taliban and its associate insurgent groups have stepped up their attacks on Afghan and some 65,000 international troops. Taliban fighters in the recent months have extended their writ to larger swathes of country and are operating in districts that border the capital city. Brown's trip came two days after US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited southern Afghanistan and announced that the US government would send up to four brigades, or 20,000 troops, next year to contain insurgency. At the press conference, Brown also called for greater burden- sharing among the NATO countries, through the provision of troops or equipment. The Prime Minister hinted that his country was mulling to send additional troops, but did not reveal any number. Speaking at the same news conference, Karzai said that his country would welcome more international troops, but once again emphasized that the extra troops should be deployed to border areas with Pakistan to tackle the cross-border infiltration by insurgents. Afghan officials repeatedly asked the NATO-led international forces to target militants safe haven, and their training centers that they believe are in tribal areas of Pakistan. Brown, who is expected to hold talks with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari before returning to the UK, said that joint action in border areas by Afghanistan, Pakistan and the NATO forces was "essential for greater peace and stability". Brown's visit came a day after four British soldiers were killed in two separate blasts in Sangin district of southern Helmand province on Friday. A Royal Marine was killed when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. An hour later, three soldiers on foot patrol were killed after a 13-year-old boy approached them with a wheelbarrow in which a bomb was hidden, officials said. Taliban militants took responsibility for the attacks. In Camp Bastion, the main British military base in southern region, where the prime minister started his tour, Brown paid tribute to the four soldiers, calling the deaths "a tragic loss". "This is the front line against the Taliban. There is a line of terror, a chain of terror that goes from the Pakistani and Afghan mountains right across and could end up in the cities and towns of Britain and indeed any other country," Brown told the British soldiers in Helmand, according to a statement issued by his office. "We are safer in Britain, the people of Britain are safer because of what you do here, checking the Taliban, operating as the front line against them, making sure that they cannot make advances, holding them in and holding al-Qaeda in as well, and that is the important work that you do." Brown last visited Afghanistan in August, when he pledged to continue British support for the country. About 8,000 British soldiers are stationed in Helmand province, as part of a 50,000-strong NATO force deployed to Afghanistan from 40 nations. Helmand is the main hub for Taliban militants and foreign fighters associated with the movement. Helmand is also the largest opium producing province in the country. Friday's deaths brought the total number of British troops killed in Afghanistan to 132.
