Brown to send 500 more troops to Afghanistan

Gordon Brown has announced an extra 500 British troops will be sent to Afghanistan

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Wednesday, 14, Oct 2009 06:50

By Richard James.

Gordon Brown has said an extra 500 British troops will be sent to Afghanistan.

In a statement to MPs the prime minister said he would be raising the number of forces in the country to 9,500, to help mitigate the risk to British soldiers from insurgent attacks.

Mr Brown began prime minister's questions today with a message of condolence to all those who have lost loved ones over the summer; totalling 37 military personnel.

The results from the historic poll in Afghanistan are yet to be confirmed, although incumbent president Hamid Karzai has informally been declared the winner.

The election, however, has been overshadowed by allegations of widespread vote rigging.

Mr Brown told MPs that increasing the number of Afghan security forces justifies increasing the number of British troops deployed in the country. He added that "no one should doubt our commitment to this campaign".

In April Mr Brown announced a "temporary uplift" to the number of British forces serving in Afghanistan, from 8,300 to around 9,000. Downing Street has confirmed the current total now stands at 9,150.

Public opinion in the UK has begun to turn against the ongoing military campaign against the Taliban with the number of British troops killed during the summer escalating rapidly with the launch of Operation Panther Claw, aimed at improving security ahead of the August elections.

A total of 221 British forces have died while serving in Afghanistan since coalition forces ousted the Taliban from Kabul in October 2001.