Visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown hinted on Saturday additional troops would be sent to the post-Taliban Afghanistan.

Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown (C) talks to British soldiers during a visit to the Musa Qala district of Helmand Province in Afghanistan December 13, 2008.

At a joint press conference after meeting President Hamid Karzai, Brown said that Britain would continue to bolster troops in Afghanistan to help Afghans defeat Taliban and strengthen democracy.

However, Brown, who arrived in Afghanistan earlier on Saturday and toured the troubled Helmand province to visit his troops, did not say how many more soldiers his government would send to Afghanistan.

Moreover, British Premier stressed for strengthening Afghan security forces, saying Afghan forces should be bolstered to take the charge of their country’s security in future.

Brown also announced 10 million U.S. dollars assistance for Afghan government for registration process of the coming elections and ensuring its held in 2009.

Speaking on the same occasion, Afghan President Karzai supported the notion of expanding troops to Afghanistan but emphasized the troops should be deployed along the border with Pakistan to tackle the cross-border terrorism.

As the second major contributor in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, more than 8,000 British forces have been deployed in the war-torn nation, mostly in the poppy-growing and militancy-plagued Helmand to stabilize security there.

Brown’s surprised visit to Afghanistan coincided with killing of four British soldiers in Helmand province in two separate attacks carried out by Taliban militants.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet