LONDON — The government is to send an extra 500 troops to Afghanistan, media reports said on Wednesday ahead of a statement by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Brown was set to announce the move in a statement to the House of Commons from 12:30pm, his first since MPs returned from a three-month summer recess Monday.
It is thought there will be conditions attached to the deployment -- including assurances from NATO partner countries that they will also boost their presence.
Britain currently has around 9,000 troops in Afghanistan, the second largest deployment after the United States. There have been 221 British deaths there since the war began in 2001.
The news is likely to be welcomed in the US, where President Barack Obama has struggled to persuade even Washington's closest allies to dispatch more troops to Afghanistan amid spiralling violence and waning public support.
It comes as Obama holds in-depth talks with his war council Wednesday, the latest meeting on a grim assessment of the war by the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal.
Obama said Tuesday he would conclude "in the coming weeks" whether to fulfil McChrystal's request for reportedly up to 60,000 more troops to bolster the US effort.
Before he makes his announcement, Brown is expected to follow convention by reading out the names of all 37 soldiers who have died since he last addressed the Commons in July.
Many died in the run-up to August's presidential elections which were plagued by allegations of fraud. Preliminary results suggest Hamid Karzai will be voted back in.
Brown has been facing growing political pressure over the purpose, scope and resourcing of the mission in Afghanistan in recent months.
In a highly controversial move, the former head of the army Richard Dannatt was last week named as an advisor to the main opposition Conservative party on defence -- and could be made a minister if, as polls suggest is likely, they win a general election which must be held by next June.
Officials have recently been stressing the need for troops to be properly equipped, plus for the Afghan army and police to be built up, a process known as "Afghanisation".
"If there was to be an increase (in troop numbers), I am sure that is something they would be engaged in," Brown's spokesman has said.
A Populus opinion poll for the Times newspaper out Wednesday showed that public calls for troops to pull out of Afghanistan have risen sharply as casualties mount.
Some 36 percent of voters now believe all forces should be withdrawn, compared to 29 percent in mid-September.
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