Gordon Brown rejected a recommendation by military chiefs to send 2,000 more troops to Afghanistan despite being warned that not doing so could jeopardise the mission against the Taleban, The Times has learnt.

The Government instead chose to send only 700 extra troops, taking the total from 8,300 to 9,000 — and only on a temporary basis in the run-up to the presidential elections in August.

This was the cheapest of four options put to No 10 and the Treasury by military chiefs in March as commanders in Helmand planned Operation Panther’s Claw.

The campaign, which was launched in mid-June and has experienced some of the most intense fighting since operations began in southern Afghanistan in 2006, has claimed the lives of 17 British soldiers so far.

In an apparent concession, the Prime Minister told the Commons yesterday that the intention to cut troop numbers back to 8,300 in October would be reviewed at that time.Senior Labour politicians and military figures insisted, however, that the time to reassess numbers was now, because the Taleban effort would be at its most intensive during the election period.

Mr Brown pledged that all “operational requirements” would be met.Under fierce questioning, he twice insisted that he had been reassured in recent days by military chiefs and commanders on the ground that they had enough manpower for the current operations.

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, said that Mr Brown’s “carefully chosen words” begged the question as to whether the military had requested more troops. He asked Mr Brown if he had been asked by commanders for 2,000 more troops. Mr Brown sidestepped the question but went some way to confirming the point by saying: “In our discussions with the military of course one talks about all the options that are available.”

The Times has also learnt that Mr Brown considered at least three other candidates before appointing Bob Ainsworth as Defence Secretary last month, and that he was within an hour of appointing Jim Knight, then the Schools Minister, to the post.Doubts have been raised about Mr Ainsworth’s ability to marshall support for Britain’s operations in Afghanistan amid rising casualties. Lord Owen, a former Foreign Secretary, called on Mr Brown to appoint a more heavyweight figure above him.

In his first Commons performance as Defence Secretary on Monday, Mr Ainsworth faced hostile questioning about alleged shortages of equipment.

Liam Fox, the Shadow Defence Secretary, said that the Government had to explain “why our Armed Forces are having to do so much with so little”.

The Times has learnt that Service chiefs, backed by the then Defence Secretary John Hutton, told No 10 that without the extra 2,000 troops, it would be difficult to hold the ground that British Forces were taking.

Mr Brown said yesterday that he asked Afghanistan for a “substantial” increase in troop numbers to help Britain maintain the ground it was winning against the Taleban.

The military chiefs also argued that the 2,000 extra troops were needed to fulfil one of the other main objectives of the British mission: to train the Afghan Army and police force.

The MoD announced that 140 more troops would be sent from a reserve battalion, the 2nd Battalion Prince of Wales’s Royal Regiment based in Cyprus, to fill gaps. The deployment did not require ministerial approval.

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