LONDON: A majority of people in Britain see the Afghan war as impossible to win, according to a new poll taken amid steeply rising casualties and growing government emphasis on finding a political solution to the conflict.

More than half of those questioned by pollster ComRes - 52 percent - said British troops should be pulled out of Afghanistan right away, while 43 percent thought they should stay. Fifty-eight percent of respondents viewed the war as unwinnable, while only 31 percent thought it could be won.

The poll of more than 1,000 people conducted last week was published in yesterday's Independent newspaper. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.