UK sends 130 more troops to Afghanistan

LONOON, June 15 (Reuters) Britain today announced 130 more troops for Afghanistan but senior military sources said no additional large scale deployment was planned despite worsening clashes there.

The sources said a review of force levels is under way and results should be ready within a few weeks, but the only additional forces they expect to require would be support troops for the 3,200 on the ground.

Defence Secretary Des Browne announced the additional force on Thursday, a group of 130 troops sent to help secure the air base in Kandahar, a key target.

Commanders acknowledge that Britain has little spare military capacity because it has launched the southern Afghanistan mission before wrapping up its mission in southern Iraq, but they say they can meet commitments announced so far.

British troops are spearheading a major expansion of NATO peacekeepers into volatile areas in the south of the country, which have seen some of their worst fighting since US-backed Afghan forces defeated the Taliban in 2001.

A battalion of elite British paratroopers is taking on Taliban insurgents in Helmand province, which produces more than a quarter of Afghanistan's opium. Canada and the Netherlands have also committed large forces to neighbouring provinces.

The British force in Helmand suffered its first combat death last week in a clash with suspected Taliban insurgents, and there has been disquiet in British media about the extent to which troops will be battling insurgents rather than peacekeeping.

US commanders still in control of the area until NATO takes over next month have launched ''Operation Mountain Thrust'' against insurgents in southern provinces. The offensive includes newly-arrived Canadian and British troops sent to join the expanding NATO force.

The military sources, speaking under condition of anonymity, said newly arrived British troops had been dispatched to remote and restive parts of Helmand province sooner in their mission than they had initially planned, but were ready for clashes.

If the situation worsens in Helmand, British forces can call on US-led air power and assistance from other NATO troops in the country, the sources said.

Reuters SY GC2231