UK ministers in Afghanistan to boost troop morale

By Abdul Malek

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Britain's defence and interior ministers visited Afghanistan on Saturday to boost the morale of British troops who suffered 50 dead in the past three months.

Making a previously unannounced trip to the turbulent Helmand Province, where a 9,000-strong British contingent is based, the ministers also talked about the necessity of bolstering the Afghan army's capabilities as a fighting force.

Britain's goal is "to accelerate, as fast as we can, Afghan capability," defence minister Bob Ainsworth, who visited the province along with interior minister Alan Johnson, said.

"Security is obviously the most important thing, and therefore we need to grow the Afghan National Army," he added.

British officials initially asked the news media not to report on the visit until Monday for security reasons, but Afghan television showed pictures of the ministers on Saturday.

"It has been tremendous ... to not just commend our troops, for me to have the opportunity to do that, but also to hear from the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police," Johnson told reporters after meeting provincial governor Ghulab Mangal and other officials.

British forces launched their biggest military operation of the war three months ago in Helmand, in parallel with a large operation launched simultaneously by a newly arrived force of U.S. Marines in another part of the province.

The British contingent is the second largest of a 100,000-strong Western force, two thirds of it American, and 50 British service members have died in Afghanistan since July 1.