Britain is sending 125 troops to Afghanistan to replace casualties incurred in heavy fighting with Taliban insurgents, the Ministry of Defence said today.
Nineteen British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this month, one of the highest monthly tolls since the 2001 US-led invasion, as they launched a major operation against the Taliban in the southern province of Helmand.
The surge in the death toll has raised questions in Britain over whether there are enough troops for the job, whether they are properly equipped and even if they should be in Afghanistan at all.
The Ministry of Defence has not released figures on how many service members were wounded in Afghanistan this month.
Defence secretary Bob Ainsworth said in a statement that "125 service personnel are to be deployed to Afghanistan to reinforce the operation."
He said commanders in Afghanistan had told him "after the sad and tragic casualty rate that we have suffered in recent weeks, reinforcements are necessary to ensure we can maintain our operational tempo and consolidate the real progress we have made."
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the reinforcements were intended to maintain the British force at just over 9,000 rather than to increase it.
The total British death toll of 188 now surpasses the number of British soldiers killed in Iraq after the 2003 invasion.
Despite the casualties, the Ministry of Defence said the current operation, called Panther's Claw, had been extremely successful, driving fighters out of towns and providing the security before the August presidential election.
British prime minister Gordon Brown has been dogged by accusations that a shortage of helicopters in Afghanistan is endangering British soldiers because they are forced to use roads where they regularly become targets for bombs set by Taliban insurgents. He denies it.
Britain has temporarily raised the number of troops in Afghanistan to about 9,150 from 8,100 as part of a drive to improve security before the August 20th election.
Chief of defence staff Jock Stirrup said Britain was doing "more than its fair share" of the fighting in Afghanistan. The government has repeatedly urged other Nato allies to do more.
"The UK has and continues to shoulder, frankly, much more than its fair share of the burden if this were worked out on a strictly pro rata basis around the nations," Stirrup told the BBC today.