Major Lewis, said he thought coalition forces were making progress and said soldiers were not dying in vain.

But he said British troops had to win the support of the Afghanistan people if the campaign was to succeed.

“We cannot just keep having slugging matches with them (the Taliban) every summer,” he said.

“They will go off for the winter to Madras and Pakistan where they will just keep regenerating.

“We have to make a difference to people’s lives. We have to make people see we are a better bet than the Taliban.

“I think the British public understands now that this is not going to be a quick campaign. It is a long campaign. At my level I don’t know how long it will take but it is going to take a while.”