An extra battle group of up to 1,500 British troops is to be sent to southern Afghanistan to take on the Taleban over the next few months, the Government will announce on Monday.

The extensive reinforcement, bringing the total number of British troops in Afghanistan to about 7,000, has been agreed with Nato after other alliance partners failed to offer any more combat infantry units to fight in the south.

General Bantz Craddock, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (Saceur), appealed to all Nato members to come up with extra troops during a defence ministers’ meeting in Seville this month.

However, Whitehall sources said that apart from “a few bits and pieces” no one had offered fighting troops. “We felt we couldn’t wait any longer because it would risk unravelling all the achievements we have been making in the south, so we have offered another battle group,” one Whitehall source said.

In a statement this evening, Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, declined to specify how large the new deployment would be but confirmed that extra troops would be going:

"At Seville, Nato invited all member nations to review their force levels in Afghanistan, focusing on the southern and eastern regions. The UK has always agreed that Nato needs more forces in these regions, where the Taleban challenge is most serious.

"NATO must respond to this request or we will put at risk everything we have achieved across Afghanistan in the last five years: the stability which has brought 5 million refugees home, the advances in democracy, the economy, human rights and women’s rights.

"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. We will continue to press. But we must be realistic."

"We have decided that it is right for the UK to provide some additional forces for the Southern Region. We are acutely aware that our armed forces, particularly the army, continue to operate at a high operational tempo, but we believe this additional commitment is manageable."

The deployment of up to 1,500 more troops, with armoured vehicles and extra helicopters, will be timed for when a British general takes command of the southern region of Afghanistan in May, succeeding the present Dutch commander. Major-General Jacko Page, whose 6th Division headquarters will be based in Kandahar, had specifically asked for more troops.

The new battle group will be formed into a reserve force that can be sent to any part of southern Afghanistan, not just Helmand where 5,000 British troops are already based. A further 500 are in Kabul, the capital.

The reinforcements will arrive at a time when the Taleban are expected to launch an offensive against Nato troops in the south, in an attempt to drive them out of their former strongholds in Helmand and Kandahar. Previous attempts have failed, and the Taleban have suffered serious defeats and substantial losses.

Mr Browne will confirm the reinforcements in a statement to the Commons on Monday, outlining the decision to send more troops.

Mr Browne is also expected to announce the withdrawal of the 600 British troops currently based in Bosnia. The Defence Secretary told The Times in an interview in December that their role had become limited to policing which he felt was inappropriate.

With the withdrawal of 1,600 troops from Iraq in May and June, as well as the Bosnia pull-out, the strain on the Army will be lightened, and it will make the dispatching of another 1,500 troops to Afghanistan less of a problem.

Defence sources said there was no direct link between the pull-out of 1,600 troops from Iraq and the reinforcing of the British military in Afghanistan, although they recognised that some would try to draw a connection. “It’s really a coincidence, we have been forced to send more troops to Afghanistan because we feel it’s vital to maintain the progress we are already making,” one source said.

Liam Fox, Shadow Defence Secretary, said it was clear that the appeal for more troops made to Nato this month had fallen on deaf ears. “Those (extra) troops should be coming from countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain who have so far not shown the adequate resolve to be part of a full Nato complement in Afghanistan,” he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Nato is running the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan with a total complement of about 35,000 troops, but most of the contributions from Nato members are small. The United States has provided the biggest force - 27,000 of whom 15,500 serve under Nato - followed by Britain.

“Too many of our European partners are now pocketing the Nato security guarantee but leaving UK taxpayers and the UK military to carry the cost,” Dr Fox said.

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