Gordon Brown is in Afghanistan on a surprise visit to British troops, en route to the Olympics in Beijing.

The prime minister told troops at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand, that they were in the "front line in the fight against the Taleban".

He paid tribute to Cpl Barry Dempsey, the latest British soldier to die and praised troops' courage and heroism.

Mr Brown then flew on to Kabul for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at his presidential palace.

Mr Brown told troops from 16 Air Assault Brigade: 7 killed in Helmand bombing ...
Bush winds up tour of Europe ...
New Zealand 21-11 Ireland ... "You know that you are on the front line in the fight against the Taleban.

"You know that by what you are doing here you prevent terrorism coming to the streets of Britain.

"What you are doing is part of an incredibly important process of creating not only a terrorist-free Afghanistan but an Afghanistan where there will be democracy and people will have a stake in the future for the long term."

His visit comes as three Nato troops have died in Ghazni province. This week 10 French soldiers died in a Taleban attack.

Earlier Mr Brown said a summer offensive by the Taleban had been expected after a relatively quiet spring and added: "We've got to be prepared for anything that may happen".

He admitted British forces were fighting a very difficult campaign but insisted that coalition forces could cope with a change in tactics, such as more head-on confrontations and guerrilla warfare, suicide bombs and roadside explosions.

Since 2001, 116 UK troops have died in Afghanistan, the latest, Cpl Dempsey was killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand on Monday.

(BBC)

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