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UK Special forces leading fight in Afghanistan

 

Gordon Brown took the unusual step today of announcing that just over 500 special forces soldiers are spearheading Britain's fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

On the eve of Barack Obama's statement on Afghanistan, Brown praised the special forces for "taking the fight directly to the Taliban", as he confirmed that a further 500 regular troops would be deployed within days. Those troops, all of whom will arrive in Afghanistan by Christmas, are Britain's contribution to the new international military and political surge that will be announced by Obama tomorrow night.

full story at www.guardian.co.uk

British summit to focus on foreign exit plan in Afghanistan

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown used a Commonwealth summit to announce a January conference that will begin sketching out an exit plan for foreign powers in Afghanistan, setting targets for the Kabul government to tackle internal corruption and take the lead in preserving security there.

Mr. Brown, whose war-weary nation will go the polls next year, is staging the London summit in early 2010 even as big players in Afghanistan are expected to boost their troop presence there over the next few years.

“President Karzai has got to accept that there will be milestones by which he's going to be judged and he's got to accept that there will be benchmarks which the international community will set,” Mr. Brown told reporters at the Commonwealth leaders’ summit in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Britain has said it will send an extra 500 troops to the south-central Asian nation to bring its commitment to 9,500 and U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to announce Tuesday he’s shipping about 30,000 more soldiers there to step up the fight against insurgents. He’s been urging other North Atlantic Treaty Organization members to boost their troop commitments.

full story at www.theglobeandmail.com