Deaths cloud Afghan support in Britain

LONDON, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- The deaths of five British troops prompted political, diplomatic and military officials to warn public support would fade without a clear Afghan strategy.

The soldiers were killed Wednesday when a police officer trained by British forces opened fire at Shin Kalay base in southern Afghanistan. Training of Afghan security forces is key to the eventual departure of British and U.S. forces.

The shootings bared fissures in the military alliance and domestic political unity, The Times of London reported Thursday. Paddy Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, the former Liberal Democrat leader, and Charles Powell of Bayswater, ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's foreign policy adviser, warned of the dangers of fading public support.

"There is now a real chance that we will lose this struggle in the bars and front rooms of Britain, before we lose it in the deserts and mountains of Afghanistan," Ashton wrote in a commentary published in The Times.

Powell said the public wouldn't accept a strategy that did not include an end point within three years.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown signaled London and Washington resurrected the possibility of a naming a senior civilian alliance person to help Afghan President Karzai root out corruption.

Ashton, once considered for the role, has said the West should deal directly with tribal leaders, The Times said.