By IRNA,
London : More than two-thirds of Britons think UK troops should leave Afghanistan within a year, according to a new poll carried out for the BBC.
Out of 1,013 people polled, 68 per cent said the UK’s 8,000 soldiers should leave Afghanistan within 12 months.
The number was as high as three-quarters of women and 59 per cent among men questioned.
The findings come as two more British soldiers were killed in an explosion in the Garmsir area of southern Helmand Province on Wednesday.
The deaths bring the number of UK troops killed in Afghanistan to 124 since beginning of the operations in 2001. All but seven have been killed since UK troops were deployed in Helmand just over two years ago.
According to veteran British journalist, the government should listen to the results of the poll, showing an overwhelming majority wanting troops withdrawn.
“I think the government should always pay attention to public opinion, particularly in matters of war and peace. It has never received a popular mandate for this war in any realistic sense,” Jenkins said.
“It was done at the bidding of the Americans – there’s a new American president we might be able to capture something from that but he’s equally in favor of it. I just think we should pull out,” he told the BBC.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is reportedly under pressure from the US to send more troops, is due to make a policy statement on Afghanistan when the new parliamentary session begins in December.