David Miliband today ringingly endorsed the war against the Taleban, saying that the UK’s strategy in Afghanistan was very clear and designed to “make us safer here”.

The Foreign Secretary brushed aside complaints from the country's most senior generals and opposition leaders that lack of helicopters and insufficient troop numbers had hindered the campaign and contributed to the deaths of 15 British soldiers since the start of the month.

Mr Miliband denied that the UK’s mission was poorly manned and poorly equipped and told GMTV: “This is a mission that’s been developed with a very clear strategy: above all, to make us safer here because we know these areas of Afghanistan and its neighbour Pakistan are used to launch terrorism around the world. So the mission for us is clear.”

He acknowledged that there had been a “terrible" casualty toll and paid tribute to those who were killed, but added that more helicopters alone were not the answer. The five UK troops killed in Sangin on Friday were on foot patrol, which was an essential part of the mission, he said.

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“We’re not going to be able to do our mission in Afghanistan through tanks and helicopters alone. The great danger that our troops face is on the ground.”

Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary, later reinforced the same points in the Commons, when Afghanistan was the first subject on the order paper. He insisted that the Government was doing all it could to get extra helicopters and tanks to the troops in Afghanistan but that equipment was not necessarily the decisive factor.

By the end of the year Merlin helicopters would be sent to Afghanistan, with further Chinooks being deployed in 2010, he said.

But, he added: “The changes in the way in which the operations are being conducted leads to more ground operations and these cannot be conducted from helicopters.”

At the weekend the Ministry of Defence named eight men killed in the space of just 24 hours — including three young riflemen from 2nd Battalion The Rifles who were just 18 years old.

A private memorial service was being held at the main British Army base in Helmand Province today for the eight dead troops. Troops gathered at Camp Bastion for the ceremony.

The Prime Minister tried yesterday to bolster the war effort, claiming that the offensive was gaining ground. In an interview with the British Forces Broadcasting Service, Gordon Brown said that the Government’s strategy was “the right one” and that the Operation Panther’s Claw offensive to drive the Taleban from central Helmand was making significant progress.

Mr Brown said that it was a “patriotic duty” to deny al-Qaeda a fresh foothold in Afghanistan from which it could launch terrorist attacks on the streets of Britain.

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