KABUL, June 18: British forces have pushed deeper and faster than expected into lawless territory in southern Afghanistan, setting up outposts in towns that have seen no security presence for decades, their commander said on Sunday.

Brigadier Ed Butler, commander of the British contingent in Afghanistan, told reporters his troops were two months ahead of schedule moving into the remote mountains in Helmand province.

The plan was to move into those towns in August, but his forces had already advanced, setting up five remote “platoon houses” manned by between 12 and 60 paratroops, as well as bases for larger units.

“We’ve done far more than we thought we’d do, we’ve challenged insecurity in far more places,” Brig Butler said.

“This is a tactical success which we’ve exploited. A couple of months ago, northern Helmand looked really threatening. It looks less threatening now.”

Brig Butler said British forces had killed 20-30 Taliban guerillas in the past few months in a series of operations that included air strikes from their Apache attack helicopters.

BAGHRAN VALLEY: US troops took positions atop a mountain ridge in southern Afghanistan on Sunday to cut off key transport routes as part of a major anti-Taliban offensive that has killed scores of suspected militants in recent days.