David Milliband said that US and UK troop surges in Afghanistan will ensure a “full-scale counter-insurgency” against the Taliban is possible.

It is important that Afghans develop a “loyalty to their own state,” which needs a “thoroughgoing political strategy,” the British foreign secretary said.

More than 500 troops have been pledged by UK to Afghanistan, with the US widely expected to promise a further 30,000.

The two countries’ strategies were “very consistent,” Milliband said.

On Monday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that the UK would be sending 500 extra troops, taking the total to 10,000.

The NATO coalition was seeking a “major” expansion of the Afghan army from 90,000 to 134,000, with the aim that local forces would eventually assume sole responsibility, he said.

US President Barack Obama, who has held a video conference with Brown, is to give details of his plans later.

(article and photo source: BBC)