COPENHAGEN, April 1: British Defence Minister John Reid warned on Friday that Afghanistan faced the danger that the ousted Taliban and ‘terrorists’ might stage a comeback. “The greatest danger of all would be to allow Afghanistan to fall back into the hands of the Taliban and the terrorists,” he told reporters in Copenhagen after a meeting with his Danish counterpart, Soeren Gade.

“We are also at a critical point in Afghanistan.”

Mr Reid’s remarks coincided with the seizure by the Taliban of three villages in a restive southern province after clashes with regular army troops in which the Taliban were reported to have lost six men.

Attacks on local authorities and government forces have intensified in recent months in the east and south of the country, the heartland of opposition to the Kabul government and stronghold of the Taliban.

“It will be a direct threat to Great Britain and Denmark’s populations” if the Taliban regained power, Mr Reid said.

“Let us remember why we are there. It was in Afghanistan, under the protection of the Taliban, that Al Qaeda planned, rehearsed, trained and launched the biggest terrorist attack in history, in which over 3,000 people died in New York,” he said.

“That is why have now embarked on stage 3, expanding our presence under the United Nations, to the south of Afghanistan. Our aim is to extend the authority of President (Hamid) Karzai’s government, to protect those civilian agencies assisting them to build a democratic government and to enable security, stability and economic development throughout the country.”

About 3,300 British troops are shortly to be deployed in the south of Afghanistan as part of a NATO force expanding its presence in the country.

“We don’t go there to make war or destroy the terrorists. It’s not our mission. It’s the (job of the) coalition headed by the American forces,” he said.

The purpose was to help the Afghan people and government build their democracy, economy and security forces, he said, noting that 290 Danish troops would be under British command in the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.

“But if attacked, we have to respond,” Mr Reid said.

Most of the British forces will be in the volatile Helmand province, as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

NATO said on Friday that ISAF could by August finish its process of building up to 25,000 troops and expanding its presence throughout Afghanistan. —AFP