Hamid Karzai (File photo)

Afghan president Hamid Karzai has announced a program to recruit tribesmen in border areas to augment security forces doing battle with the Taleban.

Mr. Karzai said Sunday in a speech to tribal elders from eastern provinces that he does not want to form militias. The purpose of recruiting civilians, he said, was to strengthen the districts against terrorist attack.

He said the additional forces would be under government command.

Meanwhile, officials in London said a British soldier was killed and two others seriously wounded in a firefight with suspected Taleban forces in Helmand province.

The U.S. military said a coalition soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Ghazni province.

Also Sunday, unidentified gunmen killed four Afghan road workers in Kandahar. Local officials said the men were also robbed of several thousand dollars.