London - The British government confirmed Monday that an extra 500 troops earmarked for Afghanistan are ready to be deployed, taking the overall British contingent in the county to 9,500. Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said the additional troops now had the sufficient level of supplies and equipment to go out to Afghanistan, although he did not say when they would be deployed.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to tell parliament later Monday that the troops are now ready to go.
He announced the extra troops several months ago but made it dependent on further contributions from other NATO countries and a commitment from Afghan President Hamid Karzai to train more Afghan forces.
Britain's confirmation that more troops will go to Afghanistan comes a day before the expected US decision on a troop surge for the country.
Brown has said he is confident that, following the US announcement, Europe's NATO partner would be prepared to muster an additional 5,000 soldiers for Afghanistan.
