Afghan resources sufficient - Brown
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has insisted that British forces have the resources needed to "do the job" in Afghanistan.
After a rising toll of deaths and injuries in recent days, Mr Brown acknowledged it had been a "sad and difficult time" for our armed forces and the country.
But he said that if the Taliban's "vicious insurgency" was to be defeated, British troops must "persist" with their mission.
Mr Brown said: "It has been a very difficult summer and it is not over yet.
"But if we are to deny Helmand to the Taliban in the long term, if we are to defeat this vicious insurgency and by doing so make Britain and the world a safer place, then we must persist with our operations in Afghanistan.
"I am confident we are right to be in Afghanistan - that we have the strongest possible plan and we have the resources needed to do the job."
Earlier, Conservative leader David Cameron said the lack of suitable helicopters in southern Afghanistan was now "an extreme emergency" and called for an urgent effort to persuade other Nato countries to send more of theirs.
He said: "It is a scandal that they still lack enough helicopters to move around in southern Afghanistan. The Government must deal with this issue as a matter of extreme emergency."
