Britain 'to send 1,000 more troops to Afghanistan'

Britain is planning to send at least an extra 1,000 troops to Afghanistan, reports have claimed today.

British commanders have allegedly said more troops are needed in the south of the country, adding to the 9,000 British troops already in Helmand province.

More troops are needed, the reports say, to hold ground captured from the Taliban, and also help the counter-insurgency operation.

The extra troops would be the equivalent of one extra battlegroup, and would form part of a combined plan by the Pentagon, the Ministry of Defence and Nato, to form a military surge. The news was leaked in an American newspaper yesterday, reports said.

Detailed requests for more troops have been drawn up, senior government figures said, but nothing has yet been formalised. The reports for more troops came following a 'report' from General Stanley McChrystal calling for more troops to be sent to Afghanistan.

There are currently more than 100,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, two thirds of which are American.

Prime minister Gordon Brown has been reluctant in the past to increase the number of troops beyond their existing levels.