Britain defends Afghan mission as criticism grows

LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) Britain defended its role in Afghanistan and the reliability of its equipment today after the country's worst military air crash in years sparked growing criticism of the British mission in the country.

Fourteen military personnel died when a Nimrod MR2 reconnaissance aircraft crashed, apparently due to a technical problem, in the southern province of Kandahar on Saturday.

The loss, coupled with the death of seven British soldiers in a month in fierce fighting with Taliban guerrillas in the south, revived questions about the nature of the British mission and whether simultaneous deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq were stretching the military's resources beyond its limits.

Critics say the British troops went to southern Afghanistan to provide security for reconstruction but have been drawn into a full-scale war with the Taliban.

''I think the armed forces have been under-funded and under-equipped now for some time, yet they are doing far more than they've ever done. So the government needs now to square up to their responsibilities,'' Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the opposition Conservative Party, told Sky television.

''The government are going to have to answer some very, very hard questions about what (British) troops are doing in Afghanistan and are the force levels appropriate?,'' defence analyst Charles Heyman told Reuters.

Defence Secretary Des Browne, interviewed on the BBC, said there was no link between the plane crash and criticism about the resources that British troops in Afghanistan had.

EXEMPLARY RECORD ''The RAF (Royal Air Force) has an exemplary record of maintaining and supporting its aircraft,'' Browne said.

An investigation into the crash is under way, but Browne repeated that ''all the indications'' were that the crash was an accident.

Browne and NATO officials have rejected Taliban assertions they shot down the plane.

Browne stressed Britain's commitment to the Afghan mission.

''We have an international responsibility to these people (the Afghans) and to ourselves to see this through,'' he said.

Britain has faced unexpectedly fierce resistance from Taliban fighters since sending the first large foreign force to the southern province of Helmand, the main opium-growing region, this year as part of an expanding NATO peacekeeping mission.

Yesterday's crash - reported to be the British military's worst air disaster since an RAF Chinook helicopter carrying intelligence officers crashed in Scotland in 1994, killing 29 people -- brought to 36 the British service members who have died in Afghanistan since November 2001.

The fierce resistance in Helmand has prompted questions about whether the British mission is clear and whether its forces are equipped for the job.

Newspapers have been full of talk of exhausted troops, budget cuts affecting the army's resources and criticism that the force does not have enough soldiers or equipment such as armoured vehicles.

Responding to the fierce Taliban resistance, Britain said in July it would send 900 more troops and extra helicopters to southern Afghanistan, bringing the total force in the region to 4,500. It has also ordered more armoured vehicles.

REUTERS LL KP1819