UK to make statement on more troops for Afghan

London, Jul 10: Defence Secretary Des Browne is expected to announce today that Britain will send more troops to southern Afghanistan, where six British soldiers have died in combat with Taliban guerrillas in the past four weeks.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence in London said Browne would make a statement to parliament later today after military commanders asked last week for more backup.

''He said on July 6 ... that additional requests had been made, that he was considering those as a matter of urgency and he would...announce the results as soon as possible,'' she said.

''That is what he is doing today.'' Around 3,200 British troops are already in Afghanistan spearheading a major expansion of NATO peacekeepers into volatile areas in the south which have seen some of the worst fighting since US-backed forces toppled the Taliban in 2001.

A battalion of elite British paratroopers is taking on Taliban insurgents in Helmand province. Canada and the Netherlands have also committed large forces to neighbouring provinces.

The British government has long said the mission's emphasis is on reconstruction, not counter-insurgent warfare. But in an interview on July 8, Browne said the troops' deployment had ''energised'' the Taliban enemy.

REUTERS

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