Nato leaders mull Afghan future
Defence secretary Des Browne will host the meeting
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Friday, 14, Dec 2007 11:55
A conference on the future of Afghanistan is taking place in Edinburgh today.
Defence and foreign ministers from eight countries with military forces in the south of the central Asian country are due to discuss how to reinvigorate their efforts to improve security and reconstruction.
The meeting will seek to develop a comprehensive strategy for the region, with a view to extending the Afghan government's own authority throughout the country.
Defence secretary Des Browne, who visited Afghanistan earlier this week, said he had seen "tangible" improvements.
But he called for a "concerted push" for more gains to guarantee security in Afghanistan and the "wider world".
"Military power can only ever be part of the solution," Mr Browne commented.
"We must build on our hard-won military gains and go further to help the people of Afghanistan to provide their own security, governance and economic development."
Defence analysts say Afghanistan has seen only limited progress in 2007 as Nato-commanded forces struggle to peg back the Taliban.
However earlier this week British forces won a crucial victory against the radical Islamist group when they retook the Taliban's largest urban stronghold in the country, Musa Qala in Helmand province.
Prime minister Gordon Brown hailed the victory as a "psychological blow" and told the Commons he believed coalition forces were "winning the battle" to improve security in Afghanistan.
Click here for a summary of the situation in Afghanistan