Brown to confirm Afghanistan troop boost
Updated on 30 November 2009
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to confirm that an extra 500 troops to will be sent Afghanistan as the correct military equipment is now in place.
The prime minister is expected to make the announcement in a statement to MPs as he sets out the next stage of the Afghan mission.
He will also call on Pakistan to step up efforts to track down members of al-Qaida, including Osama Bin Laden, who are believed t be hiding in the north of the country.
Brown pledged last month to boost the British deployment to 9,500 as long as three conditions were met.
They were a commitment by the Afghan government to provide sufficient home-grown troops for training, assurances that the British forces could be adequately equipped and that would be part of a coalition-wide deployment with each ally bearing its "fair share".
Professor Michael Clarke from the Royal United Services Institute spoke to Channel 4 News about the troop surge.
"You and I talk about numbers because it's an easy way of understanding it but what military planners are talking about is units, how many units are going," he said.
"What General McChrystal asked for was five more brigades - five more brigades that he can use in Kandahar, in Helmand, a couple in the north east and a training brigade. So if he gets those five brigades then he's got backing for his plan whatever the final number turns out to be.
"Nato, I have to say, has be giving contradictory messages because some of the allies in Nato are talking about when, "we're going to leave" and "we will be pulling out next year" or whenever it might be.
"The French have said no more troops whatsoever. Germany is quietly talking about reinforcement…the Italians have talked about several hundred troops and we're making a commitment of 500.
"So if you put all those together my guess is, and it is a guess at the moment, is that Nato will be coming up with perhaps 3,000/3,500 troops.
"I think they'll put in enough to make it look as if they are contributing to the Obama plan."
An international conference is to be held on 28 January to secure agreements from Afghan President Hamid Karzai of 50,000 trainee soldiers, an increased local police force and plans to tackle corruption.
The move, announced by Brown at the weekend, is designed to pave the way for the gradual handover of power to Afghan control. It is hoped at least five provinces will be handed over next year - which could lead to British forces being brought home.
But Mr Brown stressed that no timetable was being set for scaling back the UK force, which will happen only when Afghans are able to provide their own security.
He has already expressed confidence that Nato and other allies, other than the US, will come up with 5,000 more troops as part of the intensification of the international effort.
After months of deliberation, American president Barack Obama is expected to announce tomorrow that he will send up to 35,000 more US forces.
