The Netherlands, which already has about 625 troops in Afghanistan, was due to provide a further force of 1,000 to be based in Uruzgan province, which stretches from the centre towards the south of the country.

But a report by the Dutch military intelligence and security service has warned of the extreme danger of operating in the area, which sources close to the country’s cabinet said “can’t be ignored”.

A Dutch withdrawal would place more of the burden on the British, who are taking over command of Nato operations next May.

British forces were originally due to provide the vast bulk of the new force in southern Afghanistan. That fell apart when plans for an early withdrawal from Iraq were shelved, forcing the British to co-opt Australian and Canadian forces as well as the Dutch.

Afghan security officials have confirmed eyewitness accounts of Arab and Chechen terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda offering money to Afghans in the south to kill or kidnap the officials or foreigners.

There have also been reports that Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists are being trained by “Arab jihadis” in techniques developed against US and British troops in Iraq.

The American force currently operating in southern Afghanistan has sought to combine nation-building — focused on two provincial reconstruction teams based in Kandahar and at Lashkar Gah, in Helmand province — with highly aggressive counter-terrorist operations.

Concern that these operations were too hostile, negating the positive effects of the reconstruction teams, has been expressed by Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai. There have been demands within Nato, in particular from France and Germany, for the force to concentrate on nation-building.

The Dutch intelligence report highlights the serious contradiction inherent in concentrating on nation- building in an area where Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces remain active.

The British-led operation in the south, spearheaded by 3 Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, will be part of an expansion of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to cover the whole of Afghanistan.

It coincides with Britain’s assumption of command of ISAF when the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, led by Major-General David Richards, moves into Kabul. Normally based at Rheindahlen in Germany, the multinational force is 1,300 strong, including approximately 300 British troops.

About 90 American troops have been killed in southern Afghanistan in the past year amid a sharp increase in violence.

Sources at 16 Air Assault Brigade, which will provide a command element for the British paratroopers, said they are prepared for “robust and aggressive” operations against terrorists and will be backed up by 10 Apache attack helicopters and six RAF Harrier ground attack aircraft.

British defence sources admitted that while the Nato troops might not necessarily go hunting down Al-Qaeda or Taliban forces, a role American forces will retain, they will have to be “extremely robust”, particularly if they intend to destroy the poppy crop. Afghanistan grows more than 90% of the world’s production.

General Sir Mike Walker, chief of defence staff, said in a recent interview with The Sunday Times that eradicating the narcotics industry was by far the biggest problem the coalition faced.

“The truth of the matter is that until alternative livelihoods are available . . . you’re not going to make a great deal of progress,” Walker said.

Additional reporting: Tim Albone, Kabul and Claudio Franco, eastern Afghanistan

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