| Up from 600. Good to see the Brits are serious. |
Britain has around 5,000 troops in Afghanistan - about 3,600 in volatile Helmand province, 1,200 in the Afghan capital Kabul and the remainder in the southern city of Kandahar. The additional British soldiers will be sent to Helmand, a hub of the Afghan opium trade, Defense Secretary Des Browne said. Some 200 would deploy in the next few weeks and the rest by October, he said.
Browne told the House of Commons that commanders decided recently to move troops into northern Helmand to stabilize the province, creating the need for more soldiers. "We have taken casualties, but we have overmatched the opposing forces every single time we have faced them," Browne said. "They have tried to block our mission and failed."