* Finance minister says military will get what it needs * Government faces criticism over equipment and strategy * Obama says U.S. will evaluate situation after election
(Updates with Obama comment, newspaper report) By Adrian Croft LONDON, July 11 (Reuters) - British troops fighting in Afghanistan will get whatever equipment they need, said finance minister Alistair Darling on Saturday, as pressure built on the government over its strategy after the death of eight soldiers. The soldiers were killed on Thursday and Friday in the southern province of Helmand, where British and U.S. forces are waging a major offensive against Taliban insurgents. Britain has now lost more soldiers in Afghanistan -- 184 -- than it did in the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq. The latest deaths have shocked Britons and brought newspaper headlines such as "Our darkest day in war on Taliban" and "This bloody war". They also led the media, military experts and opposition politicians to question the government's strategy and its commitment to equipping the troops properly. "If they need equipment, whatever it is, to support them in the frontline then of course the government, through the Treasury, is ready to help," Darling told the BBC, without giving figures. "You can't send troops in to the front line and not be prepared to see it through in terms of the equipment, the resources that they need." Britain sent 700 extra troops to Afghanistan for the August presidential election period, taking its force to 9,000. The Ministry of Defence denied an article in Sunday's edition of The Observer newspaper that Britain could send up to 2,000 more troops to Afghanistan within months. The ministry kept the position under review but "there is no plan to send 2,000 more troops", a spokesman said. OPPOSITION CRITICISM Critics accuse Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government of failing to provide enough troops or the right equipment for the British soldiers there, particularly helicopters and trucks with heavy armour to protect against roadside bombs. "It is a scandal that our forces still lack the helicopters they desperately require to move around in Helmand," opposition Conservative leader David Cameron said in a statement. A ballooning government deficit, caused by the recession, means the defence budget is under intense pressure. However, Brown said in a letter to lawmakers on Saturday that the government had spent more than one billion pounds ($1.62 billion) in the last three years on anti-mine vehicles and had almost doubled its helicopter capability since 2006. Acknowledging that the last 10 days had been "extraordinarily difficult", he said the main reason for British involvement was "to take on, at its source, the terrorist threat, and prevent attacks here and elsewhere." Commanders believed the offensive was succeeding, he said. U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday praised the "extraordinary role" British soldiers had played in Afghanistan and said his heart went out to the families of the dead. In an interview with Sky News in Ghana, Obama said the Taliban had been pushed back but there was still a long way to go. The United States and its allies would have to evaluate the situation after the Aug. 20 presidential election, he said. (Editing by Matthew Jones)
Ugandan African Union peacekeepers carry the body of a suspected Afghani national fighting alongside the Islamist insurgents in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, July 11, 2009. Clashes between Somali government forces and opposition ...
