Seven out of 10 in Britain want troops out of Afghanistan

71% want the troops out and 47% think the threat of terrorism on UK soil is increased by British forces remaining in Afghanistan.

Funeral procession of troops killed in Afghanistan

Seven out of 10 people in Britain support the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan as a landmark report by Oxfam this week exposes the real human cost of the war.

The powerful dossier by the aid agency reveals how women and children in Afghanistan are bearing the brunt of the ongoing conflict, undermining the international community's claims that they are the very people being helped by the West's activities.

Its contents will add to mounting concerns among the public, and in some quarters of the military and the House of Commons, that the US and the UK are fighting an ill-conceived and ill-judged war that has left as many as 32,000 Afghans dead and 235,000 displaced.

In a ComRes poll for the Independent on Sunday this weekend, an overwhelming proportion – 71 per cent – supported the newspaper's call for a phased withdrawal of British forces from Afghanistan within a year or so, while just 22 per cent disagreed.

Terrorism

Nearly half – 47 per cent – think that the threat of terrorism on UK soil is increased by British forces remaining in Afghanistan, while 44 per cent disagree. The position is at odds with the argument put by government ministers that the Afghan campaign was vital to preventing terrorism around the world – and in the UK.

Oxfam's report, published on Wednesday, comes at a critical time in Kabul, London and Washington, as politicians and generals decide whether more troops should be sent to fight the Taliban.

President Barack Obama said on Friday a decision would be made "soon" on whether to agree to the request of US commander General Stanley McChrystal for 40,000 more soldiers.

The President has been urged by the US ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, to resist a surge, because President Hamid Karzai's government lacks legitimacy.

There were signs this weekend that UK government unity is starting to fracture over the conflict, with Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Wales, telling The Times that the Government needed to "get a grip" on the mission strategy. Andy Burnham and John Denham were also said to be expressing doubts.

Oxfam's report, The Cost of War in Afghanistan, amounts to a forceful indictment of the war in Afghanistan. It is expected to reflect a catalogue of evidence that ordinary Afghans are paying a heavy price after eight years of war.

Researchers for Oxfam spoke to more than 700 Afghans in 14 provinces, who provided powerful testimonies.

Starvation

Shamsullah, in Balkh province, said: "Families sell their daughters for money to save the other members of the family from starvation." Mirwais in Herat said: "Illiteracy, forced marriages and all other domestic violence are the consequences of the war on women."

And Noor Mohammad, from Nangarhar, said: "There are lots of differences between now and the past. But one thing that is the same is the bombing. Before it was the Russians, but now it is the Americans."

The wide-ranging evaluation of the lives of Afghans lists daily challenges, including the threat of lethal attacks from all sides, unemployment, poor education and healthcare, discrimination and violence against women.

It echoes other official research.

Various casualty counts suggest that between 12,000 and 32,000 civilians have been killed either directly or indirectly due to the fighting since 2001.

The United Nations has said the "surge" in fighting in recent months has also taken its toll on the non-military population. More than 2,000 had died as a result of the conflict in the first 10 months of this year – at a faster rate than any time since the initial invasion.

The number of botched Nato air strikes, killing civilians, is continuing to rise. Latest UN figures for the first half of this year alone report 40 rogue air strikes, which are believed to have killed 200 civilians. The figure compares with the 116 Afghan civilians killed in 13 aerial strikes in 2006, and 321 in 22 attacks the following year. In 2008, 552 were killed.

The total number of "internally displaced persons" is rising for the first time since 2001.

More than eight years after the war began, the country's literacy rate is still the fourth-lowest in the world, and almost half of all children between seven and 12 are not attending primary school.

The British government has spent at least £12bn on the war so far. Some 232 British troops have been killed since combat operations began.