LONDON. September 10. KAZINFORM Members of the British parliament (MPs) voted Thursday evening to continue the war in Afghanistan. Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

It was the first time that the House of Commons had voted on troops being in Afghanistan, despite the fact that British soldiers moved in with American troops when the United States defeated the Taliban in 2001.

However, the presence of troops in Afghanistan had always enjoyed the support of all the main political party leaders.

The motion that the House of Commons "supports the continued deployment of UK armed forces in Afghanistan" was won by a majority of 296, 310 in favor with 14 against. The House of Commons has 650 MPs.

During the debate, Defense Secretary Dr Liam Fox said, "A more secure Afghanistan cannot come without military means but not by military means alone."

Coalition government Prime Minister David Cameron said in June while attending the G20/G8 summits in Canada that he wanted all British combat troops out of Afghanistan by 2015. However, some British troops are likely to remain for longer to train Afghan forces.

There are currently 10,000 British troops in Afghanistan, and 334 have been killed since 2001, with 89 killed this year. Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.xinhuanet.com for full version