UK expected to confirm extra troops for Afghanistan
LONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected on Monday to confirm Britain will send 500 more troops to Afghanistan, a day before U.S. President Barack Obama announces his own plans for increasing the war effort.
Violence has risen sharply in Afghanistan in the last two years, forcing a change in NATO strategy to try to stabilise the country and allow for the eventual withdrawal of troops from a war that is becoming unpopular on both sides of the Atlantic.
Obama is widely expected on Tuesday to announce 30,000 extra soldiers for Afghanistan and Brown has asked other coalition countries to send about 5,000 more troops.
Britain has the second largest contingent of troops in Afghanistan -- some 9,000, most of them in the southern province of Helmand where the Taliban insurgency is strongest.
Brown announced in October he would send 500 more troops, but made that conditional on having sufficient equipment for the mission and receiving additional help from other countries.
Brown will tell parliament at 1530 GMT that those conditions have been met and the reinforcements can be sent, sources said.
Brown will speak to Obama via videophone later on Monday.
"The prime minister feels we have made real progress on burden sharing in the past few weeks," Brown's spokesman told reporters.
British Defence Minister Bob Ainsworth said concerns about a lack of the right kind of helicopters and protective vehicles had been dealt with, allowing an increase in troops.
"The ratios of equipment that people need to the levels of troops we have in Afghanistan have improved," he told BBC television.
British military commanders say the extra troops should be in place by the end of the year.
Britain will host an international meeting on Afghanistan on Jan. 28 in London on how best to hand over security to Afghan control, potentially opening the door for NATO to eventually wind down its forces.
Before that can happen, the United States and Britain want to see an acceleration in the training and numbers of Afghan security forces to 134,000 soldiers by October 2010, but army chiefs say many more Afghan troops will be needed.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said Afghans would be able to take over security in five years, although such an ambition is contingent on tackling corruption and Pakistan's progress in tackling militants on its border with Afghanistan. (Reporting by Matt Falloon; Editing by Janet Lawrence) ((UK bureau, uk.online@reuters.com, Tel: +44 207 542 1894))
Source: Reuters
« Back to World News
Related News
-
NATO to pledge forces for Afghan war Nov 30, 2009 @ 01:15 AM
BRUSSELS — Military representatives of NATO's 28 member nations met Monday to pledge additional troops to serve alongside the 30,000 reinforcements committed to Afghanistan by President Barack Obama, a spokesman said.
-
NATO allies pledge 7000 more troops for Afghanistan mission Nov 30, 2009 @ 01:15 AM
BRUSSELS -- NATO allies welcomed President Obama's new Afghanistan strategy Friday, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton received pledges of 7,000 extra troops to back up the U.S. escalation.
-
NATO allies face us pressure on Afghan troops Nov 30, 2009 @ 01:15 AM
BRUSSELS, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Washington's NATO allies face pressure on Thursday to commit more troops and money to the war in Afghanistan, supplementing President Barack Obama's announcement of an increase in U.S. troops.
-
ANALYSIS-Obama's escalation challenges US military Nov 30, 2009 @ 01:15 AM
WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's escalation of the war in Afghanistan challenges his generals to do more with slightly less than they wanted -- and much, much faster. The odds are against them.
-
UN evacuates foreign staff from Afghanistan Nov 30, 2009 @ 01:15 AM
KABUL (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Thursday it would temporarily evacuate hundreds of its international staff from Afghanistan due to deteriorating security, a sharp blow for Western efforts to stabilize the country.
