British Prime Minister Tony Blair paid a surprise visit to British troops in southern Afghanistan on Monday and pledged his country's commitment in the embattled region "for as long as it takes."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan.

British and NATO forces would likely remain in Afghanistan for years to come to prevent the Taliban's return to power, Blair told a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the presidential palace in Kabul.

"We came to Afghanistan because the sickness and the evil that was here came to us," Blair said, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. "I don't believe there is an alternative but to fight this and to fight it for as long as it takes."

The trip is the second that Blair has taken to the troubled country since 2002.

Blair met with Karzai after visiting hundreds of soldiers at Camp Bastion, the main southern base of British troops in the Helmand province, where he thanked them for their work in establishing global security.

"Here in this extraordinary desert is where the future of world security in the early 21st century is going to be played out," Blair said to about 800 troops.

Sgt. Chris Hunter told Blair that the troops believe in their work, even when it includes dangerous forays into the desert to hunt insurgents.

"One point that gets lost at home, prime minister, is that all the lads want to be here," he said.

Tony Blair, left, with Afghan President Hamid Karzai during a joint press conference at the presidential palace in Kabul on Monday.
(Musadeq Sdaeq/Associated Press)

Trip follows Pakistan visit

Blair's visit to Afghanistan comes after he spent two days in Pakistan, where he met President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and agreed to a number of joint ventures to combat extremism and aid Afghanistan.

Musharraf told Blair that Afghanistan needs massive amounts of international aid to rebuild itself.

Blair arrived at the base in an unmarked Hercules C-130 Hercules cargo plane.

Britain has 6,000 troops in Afghanistan and 41 British soldiers have died in the country since Britain first sent troops there in 2001. Thirty-six have died in Helmand province since they were deployed there in July.

As part of a larger NATO mission in Afghanistan, British troops are in Helmand to fight the Taliban and provide security so that reconstruction can begin. Helmand province is considered a former Taliban stronghold and a centre for the world's heroin trade.

According to British Defence Secretary Des Browne, British operations in Afghanistan have cost Britain about $1.6 billion since 2001.

With files from the Associated Press