We paid a very high price in Afghanistan: UK PM

British Prime Minister David Cameron has admitted that Britain has “paid a very high price” in Afghanistan after the Ministry of Defense (MoD) confirmed new casualties in the Asian country.

The MoD earlier announced that three British soldiers had been killed in a roadside bomb attack on their vehicle in the Afghan province of Helmand.

The deaths take the number of British troops who have been killed in Afghanistan since October 2001 to 444.

Cameron’s comment follows MoD’s admittance back in March that the Afghan campaign is “unwinnable in military terms”.

During his interview, Cameron also echoed the MoD’s position that the British forces’ continued presence in the country until the end of 2014, is aimed at helping the security of the Asian nation.

“It is important work because it is vital that that country doesn’t again become a haven for terrorists, terrorists that can threaten us here in the UK,” he said.

The ministry found in an internal study back in May that NATO forces had failed to “establish control over the insurgents’ safe havens” or to “protect the rural population”.

However, the report by the MoD’s think tank, the Development, Concepts and Doctrines Centre, tried to set the stage for non-military occupation of Afghanistan even after a British military withdrawal planned for 2014.

It said that Afghanistan “will be left with a severely damaged and very weak economic base” after the pull-out stressing such a situation leaves western countries obliged to fund “large-scale support programs” for many years.

Afghanistan, however, has dismissed London’s claim that they are staying in the country due to security reasons.

During a visit to London back in February, Afghan President Hamid Karzai criticized Britain’s role in his country saying the security situation in the Afghan province of Helmand was better before British forces went there.

“In 2002 through 2006, Afghanistan had a lot better security. When we had our own presence there, with very little foreign troops, schools were open in Helmand and life was more secure,” he said.