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Soldiers in Afghanistan - Source: Reuters -
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Britain will temporarily increase its forces in Afghanistan by 700 and direct more aid to border areas of Pakistan to counter a growing Taliban threat, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday.
Brown unveiled a plan to counter militants in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying "terrorist leaders are orchestrating attacks around the world" from border areas of the two neighbouring countries.
"We know also of the stronger connections that now exist between the Afghan and Pakistan Taliban and between them and al Qaeda and other terrorist groups," Brown told parliament after visiting both countries this week.
"This requires us to take further, more determined and concerted action" he said.
Britain's plan, similar to a new strategy unveiled by US President Barack Obama last month, reflects growing Western concern over Taliban advances in Pakistan.
Pakistani troops have launched an offensive in the Buner Valley after a Taliban advance into a region just 100 km northwest of the capital heightened fears in the West that the nuclear-armed Muslim state was becoming more unstable.
Brown said that Afghanistan and Pakistan were of "critical strategic importance" to Britain and the world. The document said three quarters of the most serious terrorism plots investigated in Britain have links to Pakistan.
Pakistan's senior diplomat in Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, has complained of "over-reaction" by British authorities on April 8 when police arrested 12 people, including 10 Pakistanis, in what Brown said was an operation against a "very big terrorist plot."
All were later released, although 11 have been handed over to immigration officials and face deportation.
Extra troops
Brown confirmed Britain will send 700 extra troops to Afghanistan for the August presidential elections, temporarily raising its force there to 9,000, the second biggest foreign contingent after the United States.
He said Britain was sending permanent extra units to protect its forces from mines and roadside bombs, which have killed many of the more than 150 British soldiers who have died there.
British forces battling Taliban guerrillas in the southern province of Helmand are due to be reinforced in coming weeks by the arrival of more than 8,000 US Marines.
Senior diplomatic, military and intelligence teams from Britain and Pakistan will meet more regularly and Britain is providing 10 million pounds to help Pakistan's police and security services fight terrorism, Brown said.
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari will visit Britain next month for talks, he said.
A key focus of the new strategy is on combatting poverty in the border areas that is seen as fuelling radicalisation.
Britain has pledged 665 million pounds in aid to Pakistan over the next four years. Much of the aid will be shifted to improving health and education in the border areas. Britain has promised 510 million pounds to Afghanistan over the same period.
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