Up to 2,000 More Soldiers Are Needed to Hold Ground Recently Captured From the Taliban, Military Sources Say

British commanders want between 1,000 and 2,000 more UK troops to be deployed in southern Afghanistan, and want a government decision on reinforcements soon, military sources have said.

Echoing divisions in Washington between the politicians and the military, top British commanders argue that more troops now will help the counter-insurgency operation by providing more security for Afghans.

There are about 9,000 British troops in Helmand province. However, military chiefs say this number is still insufficient if they are to hold ground captured from the Taliban, and that more troops are needed to consolidate their position in populated areas recently taken from the enemy.

They believe the request from the Nato commander in Afghanstan, General Stanley McChrystal, for more troops will leave President Obama, and also Gordon Brown, no option but to oblige.

Elsewhere in Europe, however, attitudes towards an increased military presence in Afghanistan are uneasy. Today in Italy, the state funeral of six troops killed last week in a bomb blast is taking place. The episode was the deadliest to date for Italian soldiers in Afghanistan, prompting the prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, to indicate that Rome wanted the swiftest possible dignified exit from the country.

The situation for 4,000 German troops in northern Afghanistan will depend on the outcome of the general election next weekend. Spain could commit 200 extra troops in addition to the 1,200 deployed there, Madrid said earlier this month, but the numbers are small compared with the size of the battalions commanders say are needed.

Currently, more than 100,000 foreign troops in are Afghanistan, around 65,000 of whom are American.