London  - The number of Britons opposed to the country's military involvement in Afghanistan has risen to 56 per cent, an opinion poll published by the BBC showed Wednesday.

The figure represented a slight increase in the number of people against Britain's role in Afghanistan compared to an identical survey conducted in 2006.

According to Wednesday's poll, conducted to mark the eighth anniversary of the start of the conflict, showed that 56 per cent were opposed, 37 per cent in favour and 6 per cent unsure, while 1 per cent of the 1,010 people asked declined to answer.

Three years ago, 53 per cent of those polled were opposed, and 31 were in favour.

There were more people against the operations aged 65 and over, the poll showed. The figure fell to 53 per cent among those aged between 18 and 24.

It also showed that 65 per cent of women were opposed to the conflict, compared with just half of all males questioned in the poll. (dpa)