TV2DAY - Obama says Taliban pushed back in Afghanistan

US President Barack Obama said US and NATO-led troops had pushed back the Taliban in Afghanistan but he warned that there was still a long, hard campaign ahead.

"We knew that this summer was going to be tough fighting, that there was an interest in the Taliban exerting control. They have, I think, been pushed back but we still have a long way to go. We've got to get through elections.

"We've got a serious fight on our hands and we've got to deal with it smartly but we've got to deal with it effectively," Obama said in an interview with Britain's Sky News on Saturday during his visit to Ghana.

Fifteen British soldiers have been killed this month in southern Afghanistan, where US and British forces are battling Taliban insurgents ahead of the presidential and provincial council elections on August 20.

The surge in casualties has raised the British death toll in Afghanistan above the number of dead in the Iraq campaign and raised questions in Britain about tactics and strategy.

Obama said the contribution of the British military was "critical" and establishing peace and stability in Afghanistan was essential to prevent it again becoming a launch pad for terror attacks on the West.

"This is not an American mission. The mission in Afghanistan is one that the Europeans have as much, if not more, of a stake in than we do... The likelihood of a terrorist attack in London is at least as high, if not higher, than it is in the United States.

"And that's the reason why (former and current British prime ministers) Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and others have made this commitment."

Obama said he wanted a new push after the election to train Afghanistan's army and police so Afghans could take greater responsibility for controlling their own security.