British Defense Secretary Des Browne announced on Monday that Britain would send 230 more troops to Afghanistan by spring 2009, bringing the total number of the troops sent there to 8,030.
"As a result of a recent review I have approved the removal of around 400 posts from the Afghan Operational Establishment Table. These posts are no longer required due to reorganization and the changed nature of the tactical situation," Browne told the Parliament in a statement.
"At the same time we have identified a requirement for, in total, 630 new posts, creating a net increase in our forces in Afghanistan of some 230 personnel to around 8,030 by Spring 2009," he said.
"Broadly these adjustments have three aims," Browne added.
"Firstly to improve the level of protection afforded to our personnel. Secondly to increase the capacity of our forces to deliver training and mentoring to the Afghan National Security Forces. And thirdly to increase the capacity of our forces to deliver the civil effects of reconstruction and development in an insecure or semi-secure environment," he said.
"All of these aims are vital if we are to sustain the progress that we are making," he said.
Browne said the deployment of additional troops did not represent a very significant increase, and did not mean British mission was expanding.
"It means we are taking the steps necessary to take our mission forward as effectively as we can, with a force whose profile and capabilities are optimized to the conditions that they face," he said.
"As I have explained the uplift and rebalancing will enable our forces to strengthen their protection and to increase the rate at which they are able to build Afghan capacity, in security, governance and development. Some of these new capabilities will need a year before they are available for operations in Afghanistan. Others will deploy much sooner," said Browne.
On Monday morning, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Britain would send "additional troops" to Afghanistan.
"We have resolved, first of all, as we did some years ago, that it is in the British national interest to confront the Taleban in Afghanistan or Afghanistan would come to us," he said.
"Today, Britain will announce additional troops for Afghanistan, bringing our numbers in Afghanistan to the highest level," Brown said at a joint news conference in London after talks with visiting US President George W. Bush.
"Eighteen months ago the Taleban boasted they would drive British forces out of southern Helmand. We are transforming that area," said Brown.
"Our force will move from direct combat to training," said Brown.
Currently Britain has over 7,800 soldiers based in Afghanistan. Some 102 British soldiers were killed in Afghanistan since November 2001.
(Xinhua News Agency June 17, 2008)
