U.K. key war partner, Petraeus says

LONDON, June 9 (UPI) -- Their expertise in counter-terrorism makes the British vital partners to operations under way in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus said in London.

Petraeus, the top military official in charge of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said during a speech at the Royal United Services Institute that the British military was vital to success on the war front, the BBC reports.

"It's clear that, as was the case in Iraq, the scale of the British contribution in Afghanistan is such that the coalition cannot succeed without you," he said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said during talks this week with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that London's commitment to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan was stronger than ever.

Gates, during discussions with British Defense Secretary Liam Fox, said Washington and its coalition partners pledged to remain partners with the government in Kabul "for a very long time into the future," the Pentagon said.

Fox said London still believed Afghanistan was linked to national security.

"I believe that we cannot afford Afghanistan to lapse back into a failed state, which would create a security vacuum which will contaminate the region and possibly well beyond it," he said.

Britain has close to 9,500 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan. Nearly 300 have died since fighting began in 2001.