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British minister signals troops, equipment boost in Afghanistan
London (AFP) Jan 25, 2009 Defence Secretary John Hutton on Sunday signalled he was considering boosting the number of British troops and equipment in Afghanistan. Speaking to the News of the World tabloid, Hutton said his top priority was protecting British troops against improvised explosive devices used by the Taliban militia, and promised the government "will be making announcements about the issue." "We need more specialist experts in the area in theatre," Hutton told the weekly newspaper. "We are going to deploy a range of equipment and people who are going to provide us with better protection but I'm not going to give the Taliban a heads up about that." He promised that the government would do more, adding it would be his "top priority" for the coming year. The Ministry of Defence in London insisted, however, that no announcement on increased numbers of troops was imminent. It described as "speculative" a report by the News of the World that Britain is planning to send an extra 300 troops specialising in mine-clearing and 24 more helicopters. "A significant number of casualties in Afghanistan are the result of improvised explosive devices," a spokesman said. "We are undertaking significant work to investigate ways of better protecting our soldiers from this constantly evolving threat. We keep troop levels under constant review." Last week, Hutton harshly criticised the failure of fellow NATO countries to send enough troops to Afghanistan, saying that "warm words" alone are not enough. Without naming specific countries who he wanted to do more, Hutton added that it was not fair to expect the Americans to do all the "heavy lifting." Britain took part in the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan that ousted the Taliban, and now has around 8,300 troops stationed in the country, most of whom are in the restive southern province of Helmand, where the Taliban are waging a bloody insurgency. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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