Britain confirms sending more troops to Afghanistan

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) Britain has decided to send a fresh wave of troops to Afghanistan before an expected spring offensive by the Taliban, which reacted by threatening to step up suicide bomb attacks on NATO forces.

Defence Secretary Des Browne said in a statement yesterday that the government took its decision after failing to persuade other NATO members to send reinforcements to Helmand province, the southern region where a Taliban insurgency flared last year.

''We have decided that it is right for the UK to provide some additional forces for the Southern Region,'' Browne said.

Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah told Britain's Channel 4 News the Taliban would carry out more suicide attacks on NATO forces.

''The suicide bombers are countless,'' he said in an interview recorded on the Afghan-Pakistan border. ''Hundreds of suicide bombers have already registered their names, hundreds more are waiting.'' ''More troops means more will be killed, and that would make us happy; we're happy for them to come.'' Britain already has some 5,000 troops in Helmand province, and the Guardian newspaper said it planned to send more than 1,000 reinforcements. Browne did not mention a number on Friday, but announced on Feb. 1 that he would send an extra 800 troops to Helmand ''by the late summer''.

Two days ago, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Britain would withdraw about 1,600 of its 7,100 troops from Iraq in the coming months.

BLOODIEST YEAR Last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban government in 2001 for harbouring Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network after September 11.

NATO has more than 33,000 troops in Afghanistan but Britain and the United States have struggled to persuade other members to send more troops, or to agree to deploy existing units to tackle the Taliban in their southern and eastern strongholds.

Italian President Romano Prodi resigned on Wednesday after his government suffered a bruising defeat over foreign policy issues, including keeping Italy's 1,900 troops in Afghanistan.

Blair has said Afghanistan is the front line in the West's war against Islamic militants and warned NATO its credibility is on the line there.

''We have been trying hard to get other nations to live up to the joint commitment NATO made to Afghanistan and provide more forces, forces which are authorised to fight,'' Browne said. ''We will continue to press. But we must be realistic.'' The British government's frustration with European allies has been clear this week.

Senior Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells told parliament some European countries' helicopters ''might as well be parked up in leading European airports for the amount of good they are doing in Afghanistan''.

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