Britain's commander in Afghanistan has said the war against the Taliban cannot be won, the Sunday Times reported.
It quoted Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith as saying in an interview that if the Taliban were willing to talk, then that might be "precisely the sort of progress" needed to end the insurgency.
"We're not going to win this war. It's about reducing it to a manageable level of insurgency that's not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army," he said.
He said his forces had "taken the sting out of the Taliban for 2008" but that troops may well leave Afghanistan with there still being a low level of insurgency.
But Afghanistan's Defence Minister expressed his disappointment yesterday at the commander's statements, maintaining the insurgency had to be defeated.
"I think this is the personal opinion of that commander," Abdul Rahim Wardak told reporters.
"The main objective of the Afghan government and the whole international community is that we have to defeat this war of terror and be successful," he said.
Mr Wardak said success also depended on how British forces were approaching the problems they faced in Helmand, but did not say whether their current strategy was the right one.
Asked if the commander's comments came as a disappointment, Mr Wardak said: "Yes, it is disappointing, for sure."
At the White House, spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Carleton-Smith's comments reflected a need for the US, Nato and the Afghan army to work together to support Afghanistan.
"It's going to take all of us... working together on the political, economic and security fronts to win in Afghanistan. I'm sure that's what the brigadier meant by his comment," he said.
The Pentagon declined comment and referred to an October 1 briefing in which US Gen. David McKiernan, the head of Nato forces in Afghanistan, said he was "more convinced than ever" that the Taliban will not prevail.
But another top US commander, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen, said in September that he was not convinced the US was winning in Afghanistan.
The US plans to add 8,000 troops to the 33,000 troops in Afghanistan by early next year.
Britain has around 8,000 troops based in Afghanistan, most of them in the volatile southern province of Helmand, where they face daily battles with a growing insurgency.
Nato commanders and diplomats have been saying for some time that the Taliban insurgency cannot be defeated by military means alone, and that negotiations with the militants will ultimately be needed to bring an end to the conflict.
"If the Taliban were prepared to sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement, then that's precisely the sort of progress that concludes insurgencies like this," Carleton-Smith said. "That shouldn't make people uncomfortable."