LONDON - Britain is defending its forces against comments by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in which he reportedly accused them of making the security situation in the country's volatile south worse.
Karzai said mistakes by Britain and the U.S. allowed the Taliban to make inroads in Helmand province, according to The Times newspaper.
"Both the American and the British forces guaranteed to me they knew what they were doing and I made the mistake of listening to them,'' Karzai was quoted as telling a group of journalists Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "And when they came in, the Taliban came.''
Britain's Foreign Office rejected the claim, saying its policy was to work in consultation with Karzai's government.
"Our strategy in Helmand has been to work with the Afghan government to extend their authority throughout the province, creating a secure environment which allows political and economic development,'' a spokesman said on condition of anonymity in line with ministry practice.
"Our armed forces have suffered losses and shown great determination and bravery to achieve that objective,'' the spokesman said.
Karzai accused Britain and the U.S. of setting the security situation in Helmand back 18 months by dismissing the province's governor without having a proper replacement ready, the report said.
"The mistake was that we removed a local arrangement without having a replacement. We removed the police force,'' Karzai was quoted as saying.
He said the forces did not come to Helmand in sufficient numbers and did not have enough information about the province. "That is why the Taliban came in.''
"It took us a year and a half to take back Musa Qala,'' Karzai was quoted as saying, referring to the town in Helmand that became a center for Taliban resistance. "This was not failure but a mistake.''
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was in Davos on Friday, has promised to provide long-term assistance to Afghanistan. Britain has about 7,700 military personnel there, most of them fighting a resurgent Taliban in the country's south.
The ministry says 87 British military and civilian personnel have died since operations began in Afghanistan in 2001.
