Britain's defence minister announced Monday his country will send an additional 1,400 troops to bolster NATO forces in Afghanistan, less than a week after Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to reduce the size of British forces in Iraq.

Des Browne told Parliament Monday that the troops will augment the British contingent in Helmand province, an area in the volatile south where Taliban insurgency flared last year.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, right, here with her Pakistani counterpart Khursheed Kasuri, says that Pakistan needs to do more on its side of the porous Afghan-Pakistan border to fight the Taliban.
(Anjum Naveed/Associated Press)

The deployment comes in anticipation of a potential renewed Taliban offensive with the coming of spring in the region.

Browne said the increase was necessary after countries such as Britain, the U.S. and Canada failed to convince other NATO members to contribute more forces to the Afghan mission.

The additional troops would bring Britain's fighting force in Afghanistan up to 7,700, the second largest presence after the United States. The force is expected to remain in the country until at least 2009.

Earlier this month, U.S. President George W. Bush said he would send an extra 3,200 troops to Afghanistan, which would boost the number of U.S. forces members to about 27,000 at least through the spring of 2008. The U.S. troop level in Afghanistan in 2006 was about 23,000.

Canada has more than 2,000 troops in the country.

The announcement came on the same day as Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced about $200 million in reconstruction aid for Afghanistan.

Pressing for help

Efforts to get other NATO members to commit more ground forces to strengthen security in Afghanistan have largely failed.

In addition, several nations have placed caveats on their troops' deployment that limit their use, such as not letting them serve in hostile areas or leave bases at night.

Meanwhile, Britain's Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett was in Pakistan Monday for a meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

She said Pakistan needs to do more on its side of the porous Afghan-Pakistan border to fight the Taliban.