The British prime minister is in the Afghan capital, Kabul, for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Gordon
Brown arrived in Afghanistan Saturday on a previously unannounced
visit. He met with British troops in southern Helmand province before
traveling to the capital.
British military officials say it is the closest the British prime minister has ever gotten to the front lines in Afghanistan.
His
visit comes just one day after four British soldiers were killed in
Helmand - one by a roadside bomb and three by a 13-year-old suicide
bomber.
Mr. Brown denounced the Taliban for using such tactics.
The
prime minister released a statement calling the soldiers' deaths a
"tragic loss" and saying fighting the Taliban puts British forces in
the front line against terrorism.
In a separate development,
U.S. and Afghan forces say they killed six suspected militants and
detained 16 others in operations in southern Afghanistan Thursday and
Friday.
Elsewhere in the country's south, NATO said its troops
fired on a speeding bus that failed to heed warning shots on Friday,
killing at least three civilians on board.
The alliance says a
NATO foot patrol fired the warning shots as the bus veered toward the
troops on the highway that links Kabul to Kandahar.
Civilian deaths at the hands of international troops have caused tension between the Afghan government and Western governments.
Mr.
Karzai has repeatedly called on international forces to do all they can
to prevent civilian casualties during military operations.
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