NINE hundred more soldiers are being sent as reinforcements for Britain’s campaign in southern Afghanistan after a series of attacks by the Taleban in recent weeks.

However, only about 300 are combat troops. The rest are engineers and support personnel.

The request for more helicopters from commanders in Helmand province has also been met with a promise but no instant deployment.

One senior defence source admitted that it would be a question of “teasing out” an extra Chinook or Puma helicopter from another operation.

Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, and some of the most senior military commanders at the Ministry of Defence, all admitted that running two substantial operations, in Iraq and Afghanistan, was stretching the Armed Forces.

Sending more troops to Afghanistan would mean that the principle of allowing soldiers 24 months between each overseas tour would not be feasible, they agreed.

The defence sources denied that the Government was deploying reinforcements in response to the loss of six soldiers in three weeks. They said that casualties were always tragic, but the reason for the extra troops was solely that a review of the Taleban threat had demonstrated there were gaps that needed to be filled.

The sources said several hundred Taleban fighters were taking on the British.

The 900 troops will increase the size of the British force in Helmand province to about 4,500 by October. Another 1,000 are based in Kabul.

There are only about 700 infantry troops available for combat with the Taleban in the south. The new deployment will boost this figure to 1,000.

About 150 soldiers from the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers will fly out in the next few days. They are part of a Middle East reserve force based in Cyprus and are already acclimatised to hot climates. Two platoons of about 60 soldiers from the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment will be sent out later.

Mr Browne told the Commons that he would be making more support helicopters available. But defence sources said that although there were plenty of Chinooks at RAF Odiham in Hampshire, they were not equipped with the level of defensive systems required for such a dangerous mission. The only way to send more Chinooks to Afghanistan would be to rob other operations.

The sources said that British helicopter crews in southern Afghanistan had been promised more flying hours with the six Chinooks and four Lynxes already there. The sources said this meant in effect providing more spares to allow the helicopters to fly on longer missions.

The extra troops numbers will involve a call-up of reservists. There are currently150 serving in Helmand, mostly from the Territorial Army, and 450 more will receive notices to deploy. A proportion will be medical specialists.

One of the objectives of sending reinforcements is to start reconstruction work: 320 engineers from 28 Regiment Royal Engineers are being deployed to “improve infrastructure”. The defence sources said the more improvements that could be made in the lives of Afghans, the less likely it was they would give succour to the Taleban.

In his statement, Mr Browne said that the original military plan for the southern Afghanistan deployment had taken account of expected violent resistance from the Taleban and other opposition forces.

He said: “We knew that the Taleban, the drugs lords and certain tribal elements would resist any attempt to bring security to the people of Helmand.”

Defence sources said that until the arrival of the 3,300-strong British battle group in Helmand, plus about 5,700 soldiers from Canada, the Netherlands and other Nato forces, there had only been 100 US soldiers in the province.

Mr Browne admitted that the British force had been extended by moving right up to the north of Helmand. “We have taken casualties but we have over-matched the opposing forces every single time we have faced them,” he said.

He said that he was aware that commentators had claimed there were insufficient infantry soldiers deployed, given the force’s overall size. But he said: “The delivery of this mission is not borne by the infantry alone. Of the six deaths in Afghanistan since the deployment, half have been from other arms [the last deaths consisted of a soldier from the Intelligence Corps and another from the Royal Signals].”

Nick Harvey, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, said of Mr Reid’s description of the mission as a small but significant step: “The increasing violence proves otherwise.”

Explore World News

• World Agenda

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Afghanistan News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• It’s only Brits who don’t appreciate me, says Blair
• Party’s over for Greek graspers
• White House tightens security for Xmas marathon