UK pledges equipment to troops in Afghanistan

By Adrian Croft

LONDON (Reuters) - British troops fighting in Afghanistan will get whatever equipment they need, said finance minister Alistair Darling on Saturday, as pressure built on the government over its strategy after the death of eight soldiers.

The soldiers were killed on Thursday and Friday in the southern province of Helmand, where British and U.S. forces are waging a major offensive against Taliban insurgents.

Britain has now lost more soldiers in Afghanistan -- 184 -- than it did in the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq.

The latest deaths have shocked Britons and brought newspaper headlines such as "Our darkest day in war on Taliban" and "This bloody war".

They also led the media, military experts and opposition politicians to question the government's strategy and its commitment to equipping the troops properly.

"If they need equipment, whatever it is, to support them in the frontline then of course the government, through the Treasury, is ready to help," Darling told the BBC, without giving figures.

"You can't send troops in to the front line and not be prepared to see it through in terms of the equipment, the resources that they need."

Britain sent 700 extra troops to Afghanistan for the August presidential election period, taking its force to 9,000.