Gordon Brown has defended the government’s Afghanistan strategy, saying it is the right one despite a "dangerous battle" ahead.

Writing to the Commons Liaison Committee, the prime minister said the military operation was aimed at preventing terrorism coming to the UK.

There is mounting concern about the current offensive, with 15 British soldiers dying in the past 10 days.

Anti-war campaigners have claimed the conflict is "unwinnable".

The current major assault against the Taliban in Helmand aims to improve security ahead of next month’s Afghan elections. Many UK troops are fighting in the south under the auspices of Operation Panchai Palang or Panther’s Claw.

Heroin trade

Mr Brown, who will appear before this committee next week, said the Afghanistan-Pakistan border had emerged as "a new crucible of terrorism" linked to three-quarters of the most serious plots against the UK.

In the letter, he said: "So our purpose is clear: to prevent terrorism coming to the streets of Britain.

"Our security depends on strengthening the Pakistan and Afghan governments to defeat both al-Qaeda and also the Pakistan and Afghan Taliban."

He added that if the Taliban were allowed to "overwhelm Pakistan’s democracy", al-Qaeda would have "greater freedom from which to launch terrorist attacks across the world".

Mr Brown went on: "So this is a fight to clear terrorist networks from Afghanistan and Pakistan, to support the elected governments in both countries against the Taliban, to tackle the heroin trade which funds terrorism and the insurgency, and to build longer term stability."

He also paid tribute to "the fearless work of our troops" and added that despite the "tragic losses", morale remained high.

‘Nightmare’

The Stop the War coalition has announced an emergency protest in London on Monday, calling for British troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan in light of the heavy losses.

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A group spokesman said: "The troop surge which was meant to pacify Helmand province has become a nightmare for the British army.

"This unwinnable war must stop now."

One hundred and eighty-four service personnel have died in Afghanistan since 2001, more than the 179 who were killed during the war in Iraq.

On Friday in Helmand, five soldiers from the 2nd Battalion The Rifles were killed in two separate blasts near Sangin, while a member of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment died near Nad Ali.

A day earlier, a soldier from 4th Battalion The Rifles was killed in a blast near Nad Ali while another from Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, attached to 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, was killed fighting insurgent forces near Lashkar Gah.

BRITISHCASUALTIES IN AFGHANISTAN MARCH 2006 – JULY 2009

• 1: Highest monthly toll with 19 dead including 12 killed when a RAF Nimrod crashes in Afghanistan.
• 2: British death toll reaches 100. Among the 13 fatalities in June is the first British female soldier.
• 3: British casualties surge as major offensive against Taliban begins in the south. Many are lost to powerful Improvised Explosive Devices.

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