White House denies Afghan troop 'surge'

Thu Oct 15 2009 13:28:11

The White House has denied reports that President Barack Obama is set to announce a substantial troop surge in Afghanistan.

US officials say claims that Mr Obama has decided to send up to 45,000 extra servicemen and women to the region were "not true".

The move, which followed Britain's decision on Wednesday to bolster its own troop complement by 500, could reportedly be announced next week.

However, at Wednesday's press briefing in Washington, the White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said no decision had yet been made about troop numbers.

Mr Obama is locked in talks with members of his national security team over the future strategy for Afghanistan. He is deliberating over a report by General Stanley McChrystal, the US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, which calls for a major troop surge to turn around fortunes in the flagging war.

The report has not been made public, but a number of leaks have disclosed that the commander has outlined three options, ranging from an additional 10,000 to 15,000 troops to a swell of 80,000 fighters. General McChrystal himself is thought to be lobbying heavily for a surge of 40,000 soldiers.

Gordon Brown has now given the go-ahead "in principle" for the deployment of 500 additional British troops to Afghanistan, taking the total UK force in the country to 9,500.

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