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1,000 more troops to fight Taliban

Patrick Wintour

London: The additional British troops, numbering at least 1,000, being sent to Afghanistan will form a mobile unit that will reach right across the south of the country in the mission to fight the Taliban. Until now, the U.K. has restricted its military effort to Helmand province, and the decision to have a broader remit could expose soldiers to greater risk.

Defence Secretary Des Browne issued a statement confirming the deployment of extra troops.

He said: ``Following a Cabinet discussion, the Ministry of Defence is now working on the final details of changes to our force levels ... I will announce our decisions in the proper way, to Parliament on Monday.

``The U.K. has always agreed that NATO needs more forces in these regions ... We have been trying hard to get other nations to live up to the joint commitment NATO made to Afghanistan and provide more forces ... authorised to fight. We will continue to press. But we must be realistic.''

The force will arrive in May and could be deployed across Herat, Nimruz, Kandahar, Ouzgan, Zabol and Daykondi. It will support the Canadians and Danes.

London sources admitted that the additional deployment had been forced on the British government by the failure of Defence Ministers at a NATO meeting in Seville on February 7 to get other countries — notably France and Germany — to increase their troop commitment or lift the caveats holding them back from engaging in anything but peacekeeping.

NATO is in overall charge of forces in Afghanistan, and the outcome is seen as a test of the organisation's credibility.

A source said: ``[After] Seville, we faced a choice along with the Americans: do we increase our commitment or accept a potentially worsening situation?'' —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2007

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