Troops are fighting for the ‘future of Britain’ warns Foreign Secretary as the Afghanistan death toll rises.

David Miliband spoke out following a surge in British casualties, which saw eight soldiers killed in just 24 hours.

This brings the death toll since combat began in 2001 to184, overtaking the 179 troops killed in Iraq.

Miliband today defended Britain’s continuing presence in Afghanistan saying that the country had to be secured to safeguard against future terror attacks on home soil.

He said: "We must ensure that Afghanistan can not again become an incubator for terrorism and a launching pad for attacks on us.”

"This is about the future of Britain because we know that the borderlands of Afghanistan and Pakistan have been used to launch terrible attacks, not just on the US but on Britain as well."

Responding to mounting criticism that the government may be endangering soldiers by not providing adequate equipment and resources the foreign secretary added: “Protection of people there is the highest priority.”

Conservative leader David Cameron said the lack of helicopters for troops serving in Helmand was a ‘scandal’.

However Miliband told BBC 4’s Today program that £10bn had been spent on equipping troops in the last five years, including 1,200 new vehicles.

Combat in the region has escalated in recent weeks with the launch of Operation Panther’s Claw, an offensive to clear the Taleban from Helmand province in the run-up to country’s presidential elections.

Five soldiers from the Battalion The Rifles were killed in two blasts near Sangin yesterday, just hours after another soldier 2nd Royal Tank Regiment had died near Nad Ali in Helmand.

The evening before one solider, of the 4th Battalion The Rifles, also on foot patrol near Nad Ali, were killed by hidden explosive devices, while a second, from Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, was shot down near Lashkar Gah.

In total fifteen have been killed in the last ten days.

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