A growing majority of Britons want British troops out of Afghanistan within 12 months,a poll released has showed,as a NATO commander spoke of his son's horrific injuries in the war. Some 71 per cent of those questioned for the Independent on Sunday newspaper said they would back a phased withdrawal of British forces leading to an end of combat operations within 12 months. And 47 per cent said the continued deployment of the 9,000-strong British contingent in Afghanistan made terror attacks at home more likely. Opposition to the conflict is increasing in Britain after the bodies of six soldiers killed in Afghanistan were repatriated this week,and Prime Minister Gordon Brown was criticised by a dead soldier's mother for an error-strewn condolence letter. Around 1,000 people demonstrated against the war Saturday as NATO's parliamentary assembly met in Edinburgh. The British government has faced repeated accusations that troops are being put at increased risk because of insufficient equipment and helicopters. But Lieutenant General Nick Parker,the British deputy commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan insisted shortages of kit were not to blame for his 26-year-old son Harry losing both legs in a booby-trap bomb in July. The ComRes poll for the Independent on Sunday questioned 1,007 adults by phone on November 11-12.
